Franklin Pierce senior forward Conor Foley has been named the Northeast-10 Conference player of the year, as the league office announced its all-conference honors on Wednesday.
It is the third time in the past four seasons that a Franklin Pierce player has won NE10 player of the year honors, as Alex Lester earned the award in both 2019 and 2020.
Saint Anselm – the NE10 regular-season champion – had a pair of winners in Jack Murphy, the defensive player of the year, and Larry Rocha, the Lance “Duke” Brady coach of the year. Saint Michael’s Marshall Murphy won goaltender of the year and Post’s Nick Weber was named rookie of the year.
Foley, the second Franklin Pierce player to ever win player of the year honors, led all NE10 players this season in points (34), ranked second in goals (16) and tied for fifth in assists (18). He had 11 games this season with multiple points and three games with multiple goals, while tallying a plus-5 rating on the ice. Foley was also selected to First Team all-conference for the second-straight year – a feat shared with only SNHU’s George Thurston.
Jack Murphy was one of the biggest producers on the offensive and defensive ends for Saint Anselm this season, leading to his defensive player of the year honor. He led the NE10’s toughest defense which allowed a league-low 2.51 goals per game to opponents, while also tying for third among all players in assists (20). Murphy was second in points (23) among all defensemen. Saint Anselm won the NE10 regular season title and earned the top seed in the championship behind Murphy’s efforts.
Marshall Murphy is the first Saint Michael’s goalie to win goaltender of the year since Tyler Bilton in 2008-09. Murphy led all NE10 goaltenders with a .924 save percentage this season, while ranking second in goals-against average (2.81) and wins (12). The Purple Knights surrendered only 2.95 goals per game to opponents, the second-fewest goals allowed by a team in the NE10 this season. Murphy is also the First Team all-conference goaltender.
Weber had a strong first-year campaign for Post, as he tallied 26 points to tie for ninth among all NE10 players on his way to earning rookie of the year status. He scored 14 goals, which was tied for fourth-most in the league and accounted for 12 assists. Weber had six multi-point games for the Eagles, including a five-point effort (three goals, two assists) in a 6-5 win over SNHU on Jan. 20. He is the first Post player to earn a major award since the program became an associate member of the NE10.
Rocha is the third NE10 coach to win the Lance “Duke” Brady Coach of the Year award since its inception in June of 2019. He led Saint Anselm to a 13-5-2 record in conference games and the NE10 regular season championship, along with the top seed in the NE10 championship. The award is named in honor of Lance “Duke” Brady, the former head coach at Assumption who passed away in February of 2019.
FIRST TEAM
F: Conor Foley, Franklin Pierce
F: Jeremy Routh, Saint Michael’s
F: George Thurston, SNHU
D: Stephen Jacobs, Franklin Pierce
D: Jack Murphy, Saint Anselm
G: Marshall Murphy, Saint Michael’s
SECOND TEAM
F: Andrew Andary, Saint Anselm
F: Matt Hayes, Saint Anselm
F: Zach Taylor, Saint Michael’s
D: Nick Brewer, Post
D: Gabriel Gagnon, Saint Michael’s
D: Tim Usalis, SNHU
G: Nick Howard, Saint Anselm
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Ryan Decker, Assumption
Matt Horan, Franklin Pierce
Declan House, Franklin Pierce
Nick Weber, Post
Garrett Alberti, Saint Anselm
Luke Linart, Saint Anselm
Quinn McCarthy, Saint Michael’s
Brendan Lynch, SNHU
