Ally Nick Named ASUN Coach of the Year; Fiona Wright Selected ASUN Freshman of the Year

Written by: Deric Raymond
Published: Monday, October 29, 2018
NJIT ASUN Conference Dinner head coach

Three NJIT women's soccer players were selected to the 2018 ASUN All-Conference team, headed by Freshman of the Year Fiona Wright and Coach of the Year Ally Nick, the league office announced at the women's soccer awards banquet on the campus of NJIT Thursday evening.

In addition to Nick and Wright, senior midfielder Arianna Gerber was selected to the 11-person first-team, which included Wright.  Sophomore defender Nicole Loehle was named to the second-team while Wright was selected to the All-Freshman team.

Coach of the Year – Ally Nick
In her third season at the helm of the Highlanders, Nick recorded a program-record 11 victories, nine shutouts, placed second in the regular season, earning the No. 2 seed in the programs first postseason appearance in the ASUN since joining the league in 2015-16. 

NJIT, which started off the season with a 1-0 loss at five-time defending MAAC champions Monmouth, went 4-0-1 over the next five contests.  NJIT closed out the regular season with a 5-1-1 mark, which included wins over both Florida Gulf Coast and Kennesaw State in the regular season.  Both wins marked the first time the Highlanders defeated the Owls and Eagles.

ASUN Freshman of the Year | First-Team | All-Freshman Team – Fiona Wright

NJIT's center midfielder Fiona Wright

Wright, from Ajax, Ontario, Canada, has registered 11 goals thus far this season, more than any first-year player for the Highlanders and just one off the overall mark in program history as a Division I team.  She ranks second among D-I freshman scorers and tied for 25th in the nation.

Her 11 career goals rank one-shy the NJIT Division I record (12) held by Kori Washington (2007-10) and two-shy the NJIT all-time single-season record (13) held by Cathy Wasko '01.

The 5-foot-9 center midfielder, scored a pair of goals in three matches this season (vs. Fairfield, at Liberty and vs. Kennesaw State) and ranked in the top 100 freshman sited by TopDrawerSoccer.com.

Wright ranks second in the league in total goals (11), fourth in points (22) and fourth in total shots (49).

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