Junior defender Sue Weber (Islip, NY - pictured) was named the CAA Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season in a vote of the league's coaches, it was announced today at the CAA Awards Banquet.

Weber was also named to the All-CAA first team for the second straight year. Junior forward Marie Curtin (Kilmallock, Irealnd) was named All-CAA second team, and was the only other Hofstra player honored on either of the All-CAA teams, while freshmen Jill Lipari (Flanders, NJ) and Diane Caldwell (Balbriggan, Ireland) were named to the CAA All-Rookie team.

Weber played every minute of every game for the Pride this season, the third straight season that she has never missed a minute of playing time, dating back to her freshman season at Georgia. When Curtin was out with an injury, Weber was the only starter left from last year's CAA championship team (six graduated and three were already lost for the season with injuries), yet she still was able to keep the Pride competitive, as it finished with a winning overall record (9-8-1) and an even .500 mark in the CAA (5-5-1).

The CAA Defensive Player of the Year honor capped off a season which saw Weber begin the year as one of 25 players on the Hermann Trophy Preseason Watch list. She was named a National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) third team All-American last year, one of only nine defenders in the country to win that honor. She became the first All-American in Hofstra Women's Soccer history and the first Division I All-American in either men's soccer or women's soccer, and was also named a third-team All-American by Soccer Buzz Magazine.

Hofstra just missed earning the opportunity to defend its CAA title, as it tied Northeastern on the final day of the regular season, then was passed by James Madison for the sixth and final seed in the CAA Tournament. The Pride, though, will return everyone off its 2006 team next year, except for defender Bree Best (Queensland. Australia), who only played in four games due to injury.

Hofstra will also get back sophomore midfielder Edel Malone (Ennis, Ireland), the 2005 CAA Rookie of the Year, who tallied eight goals as a freshman in 2005 (including the winning goal in a 1-0 victory over VCU in the CAA title game). Sophomore defenders Jess Crankshaw (Lanoka Harbor, NJ), who played every minute of every game as a freshman, will also be back from injury, along with sophomore defender Kristine Suapengco (Dix Hills, NY), who missed all but nine games with an injury of her own. Junior forward Carol Leurini (Whitman, MA), who has eight career goals, will also return from a knee injury to give the Pride some added scoring punch.