MIT Women’s Soccer Shines in NEWMAC Postseason Awards; Barnouw Named Athlete of the Year, Davis and Coaching Staff Also Honored
On November 14, the NEWMAC conference released its Women’s Soccer postseason awards. Voted on by the league’s 12 coaches following the regular season, MIT earned numerous accolades following their largely successful 20-1-1 year.
Senior midfielder Natalie Barnouw was voted NEWMAC Athlete of the Year, leading the NEWMAC with 11 goals and 26 points. She scored 4 game-winning goals this season, and played a large role in leading the team to their second-straight NEWMAC title. Barnouw is the 3rd Engineer to win this award in the last 4 years.
Senior Lauren Davis earned Defensive Athlete of the Year honors. She led the best defensive unit in the conference, which shutout teams 14 times and let up more than two goals only twice this season. Davis is the 5th straight Engineer to take home this honor.
Head Coach Martin Desmarais and his staff (Jeff Katz and KD Dolan) were also voted Coaching Staff of the Year. Ranked No. 3 nationally by the United Soccer Coaches Poll, the team posted a 20-1-1 pre-NCAA Tournament record. They clinched their 2nd straight NEWMAC title and made their eighth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Six Engineers earned First Team All-Conference honors for their outstanding performances this year. Joining Barnouw and Davis were midfielder Ashley English ‘25, forwards Meagan Rowlett ‘25 and Sean Luk ’26, and defender Madeline Seebeck ‘27.
Midfielder Leena Mehendale ‘26 was the sole Engineer named to the Second Team.