MANSFIELD, Mass. – Second in the Northeast-10 in caused turnovers and fourth in the conference in draw controls leads graduate student defender Raven Linton (Lawrenceville, N.J./Notre Dame) to NE10 Southwest Division Defensive Player of the Year accolades as announced by the league on Tuesday. Linton highlighted a group of six Chargers who were all honored with postseason conference accolades.
In addition to her Defensive Player of the Year honors, Linton was also one of two players named to the First Team All-Conference, the third time in her career she has earned that distinction as a defender. All-time Linton is the third Charger in program history to earn the NE10's major defensive honor, joining Rachel Resnick (2013) and Brittany Ast (2015). Overall, she is the sixth New Haven player to earn a major conference honor.
On the field, Linton started all 14 games, including a pair in postseason action. She capped off the final season of five with the Blue and Gold with 25 caused turnovers, second most in the conference while finishing fourth in the NE10 with 53 draw controls and added 29 ground balls. Additionally, she added to the offensive efforts with a pair of assists, giving her seven total for her career.
The Lawrenceville, N.J. native leaves the program as the all-time career record holder in draw controls with 318 which she set in the 2021 season opener against American International. She also holds the record for most controls in a single season, which she set in 2018 with 126 that season, while she also passed Eileen Perchinski '05 earlier this season to take over the program record for most caused turnovers, with 115 in her career.
Linton was joined on the All-Conference teams by junior midfielder Marina Skelly (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot) and senior attack Emily Holland (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) who earned spots on the First Team and Second Team, respectively. The All-Conference nod is the first for each, while both were named to the All-Rookie Squad following their freshman seasons. Rounding out those earning postseason honors from the NE10 was a trio who earned spots on the All-Rookie Team; sophomores Annie Acquavita (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) and Laura Agbayani (Niantic, Conn./East Lyme) and true freshman Cypress Levitt (Calais, Vt./Montpelier). With that trio on the All-Rookie Team, New Haven has now had at least one player on the rookie squad in each of the last five seasons.
Skelly's nod to the first-team all-conference comes after leading the team in goals with 36 and total points with 43, with those numbers ranking sixth and eighth in the league, respectively. In addition, she leads the conference in total shots taken with 95, while she has also tallied career-highs in ground balls with 17 and draw controls with 16.
Holland's spot on the third-team all-conference comes on the heels of tallying 28 goals and seven assists, with her 28 goals tied for second best on the team and is tied for 14th in the conference. In 51 career games, the senior attack reached the back of the net 78 times while also dishing out 11 assists. Her 35 points in the 2021 campaign set a new career-high, and her 28 goals tied her career-best, as she reached the same total in her rookie season.
Levitt highlights the trio of All-Rookie honorees, starting and playing in all 14 games for the Blue and Gold. The Calais, Vt. native tallied 19 goals, fourth on the team, while dishing out six assists. The biggest number for the rookie midfielder comes as she racked up 71 draw controls, second most in the entire NE10, while she stands among the top-40 in the all of NCAA Division II for draw controls per game. Levitt also scooped up 18 ground balls on the season.
Acquavita closed out the 2021 campaign tied for second on the team with 28 goals, while also handing out five assists. Highlighting her season was finishing with a combined 15 overall points in two games against the College of Saint Rose. Overall she finished with a hat trick in five games while scoring five or more goals in three outings. Additionally, she collected 11 ground balls and 20 draw controls for her side.
Agbayani rounds out the All-Rookie honors after having started all 14 games in 2021. The defender from Niantic, Conn. closed out the season collecting 17 ground balls and causing nine turnovers.
New Haven closed out the 2021 campaign with a 7-7 overall record, including a mark of 6-5 in the NE10 Southwest Division, closing out the regular season fourth in the division. The Chargers earned a victory over crosstown rival Southern Connecticut in the opening round of the NE10 Championship before falling to No. 3 nationally Le Moyne in the Southwest Division semifinal round.
