WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - On Friday, the Conference of New England (CNE) announced its women's soccer major award winners and all-conference teams with Hartford women's soccer seeing seven members selected. 

Senior Rebecca Opdenbrouw (Vernon, Conn.), freshman Anastasia Nerney (Glocester, R.I.) and head coach John Natale all were awarded major awards for the 2025 season. Opdenbrouw was named the CNE Offensive Player of the Year, Nerney the Rookie of the Year and Natale the Coach of the Year. 

Along with the major awards six Hawks were named to the CNE All-Conference Teams. Opdenbrouw and Nerney both were named to the First Team, while junior Kathleen Brush (Wethersfield, Conn.) and junior Reese Sadler (Newington, Conn.) were awarded Second Team honors. Junior Mia Mangalji (Toronto, Ontario) was named to the Third Team and senior Andrea Buzas (Wethersfield, Conn.) was named to the CNE Community Service Team. 

Opdenbrouw had a career year for the Hawks registering 38 points (14 goals, 10 assists). Rebecca also netted six game-winners for Hartford in 2025. Opdnebrouw is the second-straight Hawk to win the Offensive Player of the Year award after Imani Jenkins won the award in 2024. Rebecca was named a CNE Offensive Player of the Week on October 27th. 

Nerney was a star for Hartford in her first season scoring 11 goals with nine assists for 33 points. Anastasia is the first Hawks since Sierra Stone in 2016 to be named a conference Rookie of the Year. Nerney was a two-time CNE Rookie of the Week in 2025 winning the award on October 27th and November 3rd. 

Natale is now a six-time conference coach of the year as he was a five-time America East Coach of the Year (2006, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015). Through his 21 seasons so far at Hartford, John has won 210 games with a win percentage over 60%. 

Brush was named to the CNE All-Conference Second Team for the second-consecutive season in 2025. Kathleen ended the season with 24 points on nine goals and six assists to go with a pair of game-winners. Brush was a CNE Offensive Player of the Week on November 3rd. 

Sadler made her second CNE All-Conference team after being selected as a Second Team selection in 2025. Reese was a 2024 Third Team selection and this season has only gotten better with a goal and an assist to her name in 2025. Sadler finished with the third-most minutes played for the Hawks, while starting all 18 games. 

Mangalji makes her first All-Conference team in her collegiate career after being the top center back for Hartford in 2025. Mia ended the season with 14 starts and 1,361 minutes played while playing a pivotal role in the teams six shutouts. 

Buzas rounded out the Hawks selected being named to the CNE Community Service Team. Andrea has been a key member of SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee) and stays involved in the local community. On the field, Buzas played in 17 games with an assist in 1,308 minutes from a defensive position. 

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE OF NEW ENGLAND:
Originally founded in 1984 as the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), and reconstituted as the Conference of New England (CNE) in 2024, the CNE is an NCAA Division III athletic conference composed of 11 full member and five associate member institutions throughout the New England region. Its membership aims to provide student-athletes with a positive experience in their pursuit of excellence through high academic standards, quality competition, and a meaningful student life. The Conference administers championships in 21 intercollegiate sports.

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