WATERVILLE, Maine – SUNY Canton’s Samantha Dayter earned her third consecutive conference Player of the Year award to highlight the North Atlantic Conference’s post-season honorees in women’s lacrosse, which were announced Wednesday.

Husson University’s Devyn Veits was tabbed for the Defensive Player of the Year award. Maine Maritime Academy’s Rebecca Caron and Husson’s Averi Baker were named Co-Rookies of the Year in voting among the conference’s head coaches, while Thomas College’s Anna Chadwick was named the Senior Scholar Athlete in women’s lacrosse.

Husson’s Amanda Deshaies received the votes of her coaching peers to earn the Coach of the Year award.

The NAC Player of the Year in 2021 and 2022, Dayter finished the season with 23 goals and 29 assists for 52 points versus NAC opponents. Eleven of her 23 goals versus conference foes came on free-position shots, and she tallied seven ground balls and 32 draw controls in conference games.

Overall, she had 72 goals and 59 assists for 131 points, and tallied 24 ground balls and 91 draw controls. She is ranked fourth among NCAA Division III statistical leaders in total points, and second in points per game (7.93). Dayter was an IWLCA Second Team All-Region honoree last season, becoming the first NAC player to earn IWLCA All-Region honors.

Veits averaged 5.67 ground balls (34 total) and 3.50 caused turnovers (21 total) per game, and was ranked second in the conference in both categories. She helped the Eagles lead the conference in ground balls per game (32.50) and averaged 19.67 caused turnovers per contest. On the attacking end of the field, Veits scored 12 goals, including a career-high five against defending North Atlantic Conference champions SUNY Canton, dished one assist, and secured 24 draw controls.

Baker, one of two players sharing the NAC Women’s Lacrosse Rookie of the Year accolade, put together an electric rookie campaign for Husson University. Overall, Baker scored a team high 44 goals and dished 15 assists. In conference play, Baker has recorded 17 goals, scoring an average of 2.83 goals per game, including seven short-handed goals for the Eagles.  She tallied 11 assists, caused eight turnovers and secured five draw controls. On the season, the rookie had 24 draw controls, 11 caused turnovers and 25 ground balls.

Caron, who will share Rookie of the Year honors with Baker, tallied 32 goals and five assists for 37 points in her inaugural collegiate campaign, and was fourth among Maine Maritime players in scoring. She was second among the Mariners in scoring in conference games with 20 goals and one assist for 21 points, including a seven-goal performance against Thomas College that earned her NAC Rookie of the Week honors. She complete her stat line in five NAC games with 14 ground balls and nine caused turnovers, with 13 draw controls.

Chadwick has started every women’s soccer and women’s lacrosse game over her career at Thomas College, serving as a team captain in each of the past two seasons. She is in her second year as vice president of Thomas’ Special Olympics club on campus, where she puts together events with the local Unified Champions Club for the Waterville, Maine, community to attend. Chadwick was a student ambassador for Thomas’ Admissions Office, leading campus tours and welcoming prospective students to campus, participated in various intramural teams, and served as an assistant coach at Gardiner (Maine) High School.

Deshaies, the first-year head coach for Husson women’s lacrosse, was tabbed for Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Eagles to a 10-5 overall record and a 5-1 conference record – a significant improvement over the 1-9 overall record, 1-5 in the NAC, assembled by Husson during its 2022 season. Husson finished second in the NAC standings in 2023, after finishing sixth a year ago. Deshaies, who is a 2018 graduate of Husson and was a three-time All-NAC honoree during her playing days with the Eagles.

In addition to the top conference awards, 26 student-athletes were named to the All-Conference teams, and seven were named to the NAC Women’s Lacrosse Sportsmanship Team. The Sportsmanship Team is reserved for those who distinguish themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior. The honorees have positively affected the sport’s culture and game environment by clearly demonstrating sportsmanship and integrity beyond playing rules and etiquette.

The full list of women’s lacrosse honorees is below:

Player of the Year – Samantha Dayter, SUNY Canton
Defensive Player of the Year – Devyn Veits, Husson University
Co-Rookies of the Year – Averi Baker, Husson University / Rebecca Caron, Maine Maritime Academy
Senior Scholar Athlete – Anna Chadwick, Thomas College
Coach of the Year – Amanda Deshaies, Husson University

First Team
A – Samantha Dayter, SUNY Canton
A – Averi Baker, Husson
A – Natalie Whitten, Husson
A – Olivia Harriman, Maine Maritime
M – Hazel Stoddard, Maine Maritime
M – Maddy Caron, SUNY Canton
M – Molly Burdick, SUNY Poly
M – Devyn Veits, Husson
D – Maddy Thompson, SUNY Canton
D – Emily Stinson, UMaine-Farmington
D – Abigail Booth, Husson
D – Molly Littlefield, Thomas
G – Lizzy Gotay, Thomas

Second Team
A – Kaitlin Kopcza, SUNY Poly
A – Sophia Gomez, Husson
A – Alia Chasse, Thomas
A – Morgan Montgomery, SUNY Canton
M – Anna Chadwick, Thomas
M – Rebecca Caron, Maine Maritime
M – Lindsey Wunder, SUNY Canton
M – Laela Martinez, Husson
D – Ali Servati, SUNY Canton
D – Aubrey Mitchell, Maine Maritime
D – Kiara Mack, Northern Vermont-Lyndon
D – Libby Webb, Northern Vermont-Lyndon
G – Olivia Scott, SUNY Canton

Sportsmanship Team
SUNY Canton – Olivia Scott
UMaine-Farmington – Riley Forrest
Husson – Montanna Carrier
Northern Vermont-Lyndon – Isabel Bourgeois
Maine Maritime – Sadie Velozo
SUNY Poly – Bridget Mooney
Thomas – Lauren Bartlett