Mansfield, Mass. - As the league's most elite center back this season, Adelphi University women's soccer senior defender Morgan Salmon has been recognized as the 2023 NE10 Defensive Player of the Year, the conference announced Wednesday.

Salmon joins 2015 winner Taylor Groth as the team's only NE10 Defensive Player of the Year honorees all-time.

Under Salmon's captaincy, the Panthers have kept nine of their opponents scoreless in 2023. The fifteen goals conceded by the Adelphi defense -- to-date -- are the fewest at this juncture for the program since 2017.

Along with her five assists, Salmon was named to the NE10 All-Conference First Team with star forward Madison Apicella.

Despite going down with a season-ending injury back in September, Apicella was honored for her merits, after collecting NE10 Player and Rookie of the Year honors in 2022.

Before being sidelined, Apicella was in the midst of another bid for NE10 Player of the Year. Her six goals and 13 points at the time of her injury led the NE10 in both categories.

More of Adelphi's playmakers continued to make the NE10 All-Conference Team, with Gia Mandile, Kayleigh Goodrich and Kayla Mushorn all receiving NE10 Second Team All-Conference plaudits.

All first-time NE10 All-Conference performers, the troika of Mandile, Goodrich and Mushorn have combined to account for nearly half the scoring output of the No. 2 offense in the NE10.

Since Apicella went down, Mandile has flourished up top, where she leads all Adelphi goalscorers with eight tallies. Aside from playing right back, Mushorn has added her touch from distance with five goals. Goodrich has commanded the midfield, collecting three goals and four assists for 10 points in an NE10 All-Rookie Team debut.

The team's impeccable play out of the back also merits the efforts of Dylann Trahey and Krista Aliscio -- who landed spots on the NE10 All-Conference Third Team. Freshman defender Julianna Violi earned NE10 All-Rookie Team praise, alongside Goodrich and Sophia Cataldo.

Once a walk-on now in her final season with the 'Cats, Aliscio has posted a league-leading nine clean sheets in 2023 -- the most by an Adelphi keeper in a single season since Sam Whitney in 2014. Her 0.87 goals-against average currently ranks second amongst all NE10 netminders.

The Panthers will vie for a spot in the NE10 Championship on Thursday (Nov. 9), when they welcome in Southern New Hampshire University for a semifinal contest at 3 p.m. at Motamed Field.