NEW YORK | The Skyline Conference women's soccer regular-season champions are well represented on the 2023 edition of the all-conference team.
The 12 head women's soccer coaches cast their votes, selecting a trio of stars from the Gryphons. Sarah Lawrence, unbeaten in the regular season at 9-0-2, was led by standout forward Cora Colvin (below) and defender Daniela Perez as well as breakout newcomer Katey Beaver. In voting conducted by the coaches, Colvin repeats as the Offensive Player of the Year while teammate Perez has been the Defensive Player of the Year. Fellow Gryphon Katey Beaver is Rookie of the Year in the balloting process. SLC fell 2-1 in the league semifinals to U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. The Mariners' bench boss, Carlos Mendes, has been named Coach of the Year by his peers.
The Gryphons wrapped up the fall campaign with a 12-5-3 overall mark. Colvin paced SLC with eight goals, five assists and 21 points to spearhead the offensive attack, scoring the lone goal against USMMA in the regular season to keep the Gryphons' undefeated season alive. The junior scored a goal and tallied an assist in a pivotal win over St. Joseph's-Long Island. She also assisted on the game-winning goal against Farmingdale State. Colvin was named Offensive Player of the Week once on the season and finished in the top 10 in scoring.
Colvin teamed offensively with Beaver (below), who also finished with eight goals, five assists and 21 points. Beaver shared the team lead in goals scored, including some important game-winning goals against top-flight Skyline opponents. The rookie scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Manhattanville and the game-winning goal against Farmingdale State a week later. She added a spark to the SLC offense, registering shots-on-goal in nine of 10 conference games.
Meantime, Perez (below) shut down the conference's top goal-scorers, holding Old Westbury, Manhattanville, St. Joseph's-Long Island, Farmingdale State, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and St. Joseph's-Brooklyn scoreless. Perez played all 90 minutes in all of her conference games except for one, a 5-0 victory over Old Westbury. The defender locked up the opposition's top goal-scorers.
Mendes and the Mariners played spoiler on the Gryphons' unbeaten season in the semifinals before falling to Mount Saint Vincent 1-0 in a tightly contested final. USMMA finished its second season as a varsity program at 8-6-3. In 2022, Mendes led the Mariners to a winning record (9-6-1) in the program's very first season and had three players land on the All-Skyline Second Team. This fall, he has three on the First Team, taking home Coach of the Year honors in the process.
Mendes came to KP after a very successful professional playing career, as well as a coaching career that spans from the youth ranks, to collegiate and even professional. He spent three seasons as the head coach of the New York Cosmos of the National Premier Soccer League from 2018 to 2020. He was voted as the NPSL Coach of The Year after his first season in 2018.
After a Hall of Fame collegiate career as a defender at Old Dominion, Mendes (below) had a long pro career. He spent eight years playing in the United States' top tier, Major League Soccer, suiting up with the New York Red Bulls for seven of those years from 2005-11, before finishing his MLS career with the Columbus Crew in 2012. He is in the top-10 all-time in player appearances for the Red Bulls and helped lead the organization to an appearance in the 2008 MLS Cup Final. This is his first Skyline Coach of the Year honor.
SLC totaled eight student-athletes between the two all-conference teams. League champion Mount Saint Vincent and playoff participant Farmingdale State feature three on the First Team, with student-athletes from Old Westbury and St. Joseph's-Long Island rounding out the top team.
2023 Skyline Conference Women's Soccer All-Conference Team
First Team
Katey Beaver, Fr., F - Sarah Lawrence
Cora Colvin, Jr., F - Sarah Lawrence
Alexx Forman, Fr., F - U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
Alyse Rivera, So., F - Farmingdale State
Alicia Rodriguez, Jr., F - Mount Saint Vincent
Alyse Then, Fr., F - Old Westbury
Viktoria Balbin, So., M - Sarah Lawrence
Natalie Colpoys, Jr., M - U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
Gracie Heilbrun, So., M - Farmingdale State
Caitlyn Thompson, Fr., M - Mount Saint Vincent
Dana DeMoninicis, So., B - Mount Saint Vincent
Alexxis McNeil, Sr., B - Farmingdale State
Daniela Perez, So., B - Sarah Lawrence
Alyssa Ramcke, Sr., B - St. Joseph's-Long Island
Jasper Schineller, Jr., B - U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
Bridgette Lee, Jr., G - Sarah Lawrence
Second Team
Katherine Barrios, So., F - St. Joseph's-Brooklyn
Hannah Chaffin, So., F - Sarah Lawrence
Emily Farrington, So., F - St. Joseph's-Long Island
Raina Quinones, Sr., F - Mount Saint Mary
Grace Carter, So., M - Sarah Lawrence
Ariana Morales, So., M - Mount Saint Vincent
Erica Urbancik, So., M - St. Joseph's-Long Island
Kaumo Xiong, Grad., M - Manhattanville
Celina Schenk, Sr., B - Farmingdale State
Hailee Duckrey, So., B - Sarah Lawrence
Maria Baldwin, So., B - Mount Saint Mary
Caitlin Ward, Jr., B - Manhattanville
Kelsie Feingold, So., G - Farmingdale State
Offensive Player of the Year: Cora Colvin, Sarah Lawrence
Defensive Player of the Year: Daniela Perez, Sarah Lawrence
Rookie of the Year: Katey Beaver, Sarah Lawrence
Coach of the Year: Carlos Mendes, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy