Hempstead, NY – Hofstra freshman Alyssa Parrella was named the Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year, it was announced today by the conference office.

Parrella was one of several Pride student-athletes honored as in addition to her rookie of the year honor, she was also an All-CAA First Team honoree. Junior Drew Shapiro garnered All-CAA Second Team accolades, while freshmen Alexa Mattera and Darcie Smith both joined Parrella on the All-Rookie Team. Hofstra junior Elena Schorr picked up All-Academic Team honors to round out the Pride's postseason CAA award recipients.

Parrella is Hofstra's third-ever CAA Rookie of the Year honoree, joining Becky Conto (2013) and Kimberly Hillier (2004) in that exclusive club. In addition, she is the program's first freshman to earn first team honors since Hillier in 2004.

It was a spectacular year for Parrella as she concluded it by leading Hofstra in every field statistical category. She posted 47 goals, 29 assists, 76 points, 54 draw controls, 39 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers. In the conference statistical rankings, Parrella is second in goals per game (2.94), third in assists per game (1.81), first in points per game (4.75), seventh in ground balls per game (2.44) and second in draw controls per game (3.38). Her season totals also made their way into the Pride record books as her goal total ranks ninth in a single season, her assist total ranks sixth in a single season and her point total is the second-most in a single season in program history. This season she was the CAA Rookie of the Week on February 21 and 28, March 20 and 27 and April 17. She was also the Inside Lacrosse Rookie of the Week on March 21, the CAA Player of the Week on April 17 and the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association National Offensive Player of the Week on April 19.

Shapiro earned her first All-CAA award following a breakout junior season for Hofstra as she finished third on the team with 39 points on 33 goals and six assists, while also chipping in with 28 draw controls, 16 ground balls and seven caused turnovers. She finished second on the squad in goals and draw controls and in the CAA rankings she was 10th in goals per game. Shapiro twice tallied a career-best five goals this season, with both outbursts occurring in the Pride's CAA wins over Towson and William & Mary. She also had an outstanding game in the win over Quinnipiac with six points on three goals and a career-high three assists.

The future is certainly bright for the Hofstra Women's Lacrosse team as the Pride led the CAA with three All-Rookie Team selections. The trio of Mattera, Parrella and Smith all left their mark in different areas of the field in paving the way for strong careers.

Mattera tallied 12 points on nine goals and three assists this season, while also adding 28 draw controls, 25 ground balls and 12 caused turnovers. She was seventh on the team in scoring and finished second in draw controls, fourth in ground balls and fifth in caused turnovers. She had a career-high three points against James Madison this season with the two goals and an assist against the Dukes tying her season-best. She also notched season-highs of four ground balls against Elon, four draw controls against William & Mary and three caused turnovers versus Elon.

Smith played in all 16 games in her inaugural season at Hofstra and her strong defensive influence saw her post double figures in ground balls, draw controls and caused turnovers. She had 24 ground balls to rank fifth on the team and her 10 caused turnovers ranked seventh on the Pride. She also added 10 ground balls and tallied an assist against William & Mary. Smith had a season-high six ground balls versus Bucknell and tallied two draw controls on several occasions and two caused turnovers in a pair of games.

Schorr, an exercise science major with a 3.40 grade point average, played in 12 games for the Pride this season and chipped in with four draw controls, four caused turnovers and three ground balls.

Hofstra finished the 2017 season with eight wins, marking a five-win improvement from 2016. The Pride, which also upped its CAA win total, has now won at least eight games in four of the last five seasons under Head Coach Shannon Smith.