BABSON PARK, Mass.— Babson College graduate student Anna Costello (Milton, Mass.) was selected as the Defensive Player of the Year and Michelle Smith and her two assistants were honored as the Coaching Staff of the Year when the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) announced its women's lacrosse postseason awards on Tuesday.

Costello was joined on the All-NEWMAC First Team by juniors Jessica Evans (Southbury, Conn.) and Amelia Novitch (Dover, Mass.) while senior Eileen Manning (Needham, Mass.) and juniors Clare Connolly (Hanover, Mass.) and Kathleen Murphy (Scarborough, Maine.) earned Second Team honors for the 15th-ranked Beavers.

Murphy becomes a three-time All-NEWMAC selection while Manning and Connolly are two-time honorees and Costello, Evans and Novitch are first-time picks. The All-Conference teams are voted on by the league's head coaches.

Smith and assistants Annika Streeter and Allie Collins were honored with the coaching staff recognition, Smith earning the nod for Babson for the third time in her career. They led the Beavers to an unbeaten conference regular season (10-0) for the fourth time to go along with their 11th appearance in the conference final and their fifth NEWMAC tournament championship since 2017.

Costello backboned a Babson defense that leads the NEWMAC and ranks sixth in Division III, allowing just 6.61 goals per game. She tops the conference with a program-record 51 caused turnovers and ranks 27th in Division III with 2.83 caused turnovers per game, helping the Beavers rank 41st in the nation in forced turnovers. She forced at least one turnover in every game this season and had multiple caused turnovers in 13 of her 18 games, including five on three occasions.

A graduate transfer from Trinity College, Costello broke the Babson single-season record of 47 caused turnovers previously held by Lisa Campofranco set in 2006.

Evans is fourth on the team in scoring with 37 goals and 12 assists for 49 points, leading the team with 15 free position goals. She has scored at least one goal in all 18 games this season, highlighted by a six-point game (three goals, three assists) in Babson's 16-7 win over No. 13 Trinity on March 24. She also leads all midfielders and offensive players on the team with 22 ground balls.

 A three-year veteran and two-year starter, Evans had totaled 99 career points on 73 goals and 26 assists, including five game-winning goals, to go along with 61 ground balls and 101 draw controls.

Novitch is second on the team in scoring this spring with 63 points on 36 goals and a team-high 27 assists, including a team-high five game-winning goals, and ranks fifth in the NEWMAC in assists and sixth in points. She has tallied at least one point in 16 of her 18 games and had multiple points in 15 outings. She collected a career-high seven points (5g, 2a) in a win over Framingham State and had at least three points in eight of her last nine games.

A three-year veteran, Novitch has scored 72 goals and registered 36 assists for 108 career points despite missing the last dozen games of last season.

Manning is second on the team and seventh in the NEWMAC with 31 caused turnovers and ranks second on the team with 43 ground balls. A midfielder this season after playing defense last year, Manning has created at least one turnover in 15 of her 18 games and has 10 contests with multiple caused turnovers, including a season-high four in a NEWMAC Tournament semifinal victory over Coast Guard.

Connolly is having another monster season on draws, collecting 197 draw controls to lead the NEWMAC. She has reached double digits in draw controls in 12 of the last 15 games, and she tops Division III with 10.89 draw controls per game. She broke the program's all-time record earlier this and now has 508 career draw controls, which is second all-time in Division III.

Murphy has started 58 consecutive games in goal for Babson, including all 18 contests this season, posting a career-best 7.27 goals against average and a .472 save percentage with 93 saves. She ranks seventh in Division III in goals against average and 44th in save percentage and owns a 16-2 record to tie the program single-season record with 16 victories.

Babson (16-2), which captured its second straight NEWMAC tournament championship and the 10th in program history, received a first-round bye in the NCAA Division III Tournament and will face either Springfield or No. 14 Stevens in the second round this Sunday in Springfield, Mass.