Westfield, Mass. —  Samantha Souza of Bridgewater State and Emma Gniadek of Westfield State have earned the 2025 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Field Hockey Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year honors and headline the 2025 MASCAC First Team All-Conference squad which is voted on by the coaches from around the conference prior to the conference tournament. 

 

Souza, a sophomore from Dartmouth, Mass., returns to her award winning ways with this year’s MASCAC Offensive Player of the Year honors after earning Rookie of the Year in 2024. Souza was dominate for the Bears this season who finished in second in the league standings. She tallied 73 points on 33 goals and seven assists. Her goals and points were first in the MASCAC while also collecting six game-winners which was the second-best in the conference. She is currently second in DIII in goals per game (1.65) and points per game (3.65). Nine times this season, Souza scored two or more goals, including a season-high of four in back-to-back MASCAC wins.

 

Landing the 2025 MASCAC Defensive Player of the Year honors, Gniadek, a senior from Worcester, Mass., was a force in goal for Westfield State, helping them go 12-0 in MASCAC play and claim the regular season crown.  She finished with a 1.67 goals against average, .805 save percentage and 99 total saves, which included 12 victories and two shutouts for the Owls who are riding a 16 game winning streak. 

 

Joining Gniadek from Westfield State is Caroline Andrade, the 2025 MASCAC Rookie of the Year. The freshman from Watertown, Mass. burst onto the scene in her first season with Owls, scoring 13 goals with seven asssts for 33 points. She also netted two game-winners on the year. Andrade earned NFHCA DIII Offensive Player of the Week in October after she recorded five goals and two assists for 12 total points in a 3-0 week, including two goals and one assist in a key 5–4 victory over Bridgewater State. 

 

After leading the Owls to their first MASCAC Regular Season title since coming under the MASCAC umbrella and top seed in the tournament, Carden Brown of Westfield State was voted the 2025 BSN Sports Field Hockey Coach of the Year by her peers.

 

Sitting on the MASCAC First Team with Souza, Gniadek and Andrade are Emelia Westwater and Abbie Zuber of Bridgewater State, Isabella Corcoran, Olivia Narkevicius and Samantha Yates of Fitchburg State, Lee Gould and Kaleigh Murphy of Westfield State and Kaylie Ciccone and Allison Keenan of Worcester State. 

 

Earning a spot on the 2025 MASCAC Second Team are Alyse Mutti of Anna Maria, Kendall O’Brien, Nola Patty and Kallie Rose of Fitchburg State, Finley Hogan of Framingham State, Grace Morey and Izzy Mosley of Salem State, Maddy Barry and Kacey Curran of Westfield State and Charlotte MacGregor and Maddie Parker of Worcester State.