Dec. 8, 2009

The UMass Lowell women’s soccer team, fresh off a 12-5-4 season and its fourth NCAA Tournament bid in five years, was named the recipient of the 2009 Northeast-10 Conference Women’s Soccer Sportsmanship Award, the Conference announced Monday.

The Sportsmanship Award honors one team from each of the Conference’s 23 championship sports that has exemplified the spirit of sportsmanship, and generally conducted themselves with a higher degree of integrity, character and class.

“I think that finishing third, being competitive and being looked upon as a fair team gives us all tremendous satisfaction,” said UML Head Coach Elie Monteiro, the 2009 NE-10 Coach of the Year. “This is not something we take for granted, something that we really appreciate.”

The women’s soccer team is the latest to receive the NE-10 Sportsmanship Award. In the fall of 2007, four UMass Lowell teams were named recipients: golf, women’s cross country, volleyball and field hockey.

UMass Lowell placed third in the NE-10 regular season (10-3-2) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament where it drew 0-0 with Merrimack before falling, 4-3 on penalty kicks. However, the River Hawks enjoyed a magnificent season, which included a shutout streak of 1,333 consecutive minutes and a school record string of 13 matches unbeaten.

Additionally, seven players were named to the NE-10 All-Conference Teams, highlighted by two-time NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Year Jamie Gillis (Billerica, MA), who set an NCAA Division II record for consecutive shutout minutes (1,444).