Albany, NY- Former Sage women's soccer and lacrosse star, Nicole Maher (Glen Cove, NY/Saint Dominic) has signed a contract to play in Iceland as a member of the UMF Sindri HOFN Team, the women's national team of Iceland. The 2015-2016 Sage Female Athlete of the Year, Maher excelled on the soccer pitch for four years and then added women's lacrosse to her resume for two seasons.
Maher departed on March 17 for Iceland and will be participating in training in Turkey commencing on March 21 for a week of pre-season training as the team's goalie. In addition to playing, Maher will also be coaching youth team members, pursuing a life-long dream.
After an impressive senior season as Sage excelling in both soccer and lacrosse, Maher was selected The Sage Colleges' Female Athlete of the Year honoree for 2015-2016 after earning acclaim in both sports.
Maher, who played for Sage's women's soccer team for four seasons, added women's lacrosse to her resume this spring as well. In soccer, she played her first three years as a field player and capped her senior campaign performing as both a goalie and field performer. She helped lead the Gators to the first Skyline Conference regular-season championship after a record setting campaign. She earned 2015 Skyline Conference First Team honors as a goalie and became the first player in the program's history to earn acclaim as a 2015 National Soccer Coaches Association of America NCAA Division III East Regional Third Team honoree. She went 13-2-1 in net with a 0.80 GAA, while allowing just 10 goals in 16 games. She also tallied 16 points this fall on six goals and four assists. In the final NCAA Division III statistics, Maher ranked No. 70 in the country with her 0.80 goals against average. Offensively, Maher finished as the program's No. 3 all-time leader in career goals with 34, while adding 18 assists, which was No. 2. She tallied 86 career points, which is No. 3 at Sage.
In women's lacrosse, the talented attacker tallied 34 points to finish second in scoring. She helped the women's lacrosse team to the best finish in school history. Her 2016 accomplishments also rank among the program's all-time career highs as she stands No. 7 in goals (29), No. 8 in assists (5), and No. 7 in points (34). She also earned a spot on the 2016 Skyline Conference Women's Lacrosse Second All-Star Team after also earning a spot on the 2015 Skyline Conference Women's Soccer All-Star First Team as a goalie.
