(November 5, 2003) ?C The Atlantic 10 Conference held their 2003 Women??s Soccer Awards dinner this evening at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Richmond, VA with five Fordham Rams receiving awards, highlighted by Head Coach Ness Selmani winning Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year honors. Junior defender Corey Dunfey (Cape Elizabeth, ME) was selected First Team All-Atlantic 10, while junior midfielder Beth Purcell (Lake Elmo, MN) was selected Second Team All-Conference. Freshmen Sarah Hopkins (Ballston Lake, NY) and Holly Laubinger (Bridgewater, MA) were the final Fordham award winners as they were named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team. Selmani helped guide the Rams to their finest season in their 10-year history. After being picked to finish tenth in the preseason polls, Fordham ended the regular season in second place in the Atlantic 10, earning the #2 seed and a first round bye at the Atlantic 10 Championship this weekend. Fordham set team records for wins in a season with 11 and conference wins with seven. The Rams have also set team marks for assists in a season with 34, total points with 112, and are two goals shy of setting that school record as well. The team also entered the Soccer Buzz Northeast Regional Rankings for the first time in their history on Monday, ranked ninth in the region. Dunfey is the first Ram to be selected First Team All-Conference since Kara Coniker in 2000. Dunfey finished second on the team in scoring with six goals and eight assists for 20 points, and earned Atlantic 10 Player of the Week once. The eight assists for Dunfey set a new single season mark at Fordham, surpassing Corrine Jankowski??s mark of seven in 1999. On top of those accomplishments, she was also named to Soccer Buzz??s Elite Team of the Week in mid-October. Purcell??s selection marked the second straight season a Fordham Ram has been named Second Team All-Conference. Purcell set career highs this season with five goals and seven assists for 17 points, while also earning one Atlantic 10 Player of the Week award this season. Hopkins and Laubinger??s selection to the All-Rookie Team marks the first time Fordham has had two players on the squad since joining the Atlantic 10 in 1995. They are also the first to make the team since Dunfey was selected in 2001. Hopkins led the Fordham offensive attack this season with a team-high nine goals and 21 points, while the earning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week Award twice. She also set school records for goals and points by a freshman. Laubinger, a preseason All-Rookie Team selection, finished tied for fourth on the team in scoring with three goals and three assists for nine points. Fordham will begin play at the Atlantic 10 Championship on Friday, November 7th at 7:30 PM. The Rams will play the highest seed remaining after the opening round games on Thursday. Thursday??s games feature #3 seed Richmond versus #6 seed Rhode Island at 5:30 PM and #4 seed Xavier versus #5 seed Saint Joseph??s at 7:30 PM.