COLONIA, N.J. – Mercy University Women's Soccer junior Hailey Metzger (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) has been named the East Coast Conference (ECC) Women's Soccer Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, and senior Sarah Lill Hanks (Skedsmokorset, Norway/High Point University) has been tabbed Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. The Mavericks have been picked to finish first in the ECC Preseason Coaches' Poll, as announced by the conference office earlier today.
Mercy received six first-place votes to top the poll with 62 points. Molloy received one first-place vote to place second in the poll with 52 points. The Mavericks sweep the preseason awards for the first time since 2017.
Metzger is named Preseason Offensive Player of the Year after being named United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-Region, D2CCA Second Team All-Region and Second Team All-ECC last season. The junior played in all 21 games for the Mavericks last season, finishing with nine goals, 12 assists, and 30 points. Metzger led the ECC and ranked in the country's top 10 in total assists (5th NCAA), assists per game (6th NCAA), and shot accuracy (9th NCAA). Her 30 points ranked third in the ECC, while her nine goals and 1.43 points per game were both the fourth-best marks in the ECC, and her goals per game average ranked fifth. Metzger also scored three game-winning goals last season which were tied for third on the ECC leaderboard. Metzger becomes the first Maverick to be named Preseason Offensive Player of the Year since Kayla Camacho in 2023.
Hanks takes home Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honors after being named ECC Defensive Player of the Year, United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-Region, D2CCA First Team All-Region, First Team All-ECC and ECC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Women's Soccer last year. The captain started all 21 games, leading the team in minutes played with 1,892 while leading a defense that ranked second in the ECC in goals against average in 2025. She also contributed offensively for Mercy, dishing out three assists, while registering nine shots, with four on goal. Hanks is the first Maverick to be named Preseason Defensive Player of the Year since Skyler Schwenkler in 2024.
Fourth-year head coach Jack Nicholson and Mercy are picked first in the preseason poll for the first time since 2023. The Mavericks are coming off a 14-4-3 (5-0-2 ECC) 2025 season, winning the program's fourth ECC Regular Season Championship, their first since 2022, while also earning their most wins in a season since 2022. Mercy was the top scoring unit in the ECC last season, leading the conference with 126 total points after netting 45 goals (1st in ECC), 36 assists (2nd in ECC), and having a goal differential of +26 (tied for 1st in ECC). The Mavericks finished as the 2025 runners-up and are three-time ECC Champions, having won titles in 2014, 2017, and most recently in 2022. On the national stage, Mercy advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament last season, doing so for the first time since 2022, and concluded the season receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll. Mercy enters 2026 ranked No. 25 nationally in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25 Poll, being the lone school from the ECC ranked in the Top 25 and marking the first Top 25 preseason ranking for the Mavericks since 2018.
Nicholson and the Mavericks open their 2026 season on Thursday, August 27 when they play at Edinboro at 12 p.m.
