Panaro was active in various parts of the Franklin Pierce community

RINDGE, N.H. (May 24, 2012) -- Franklin Pierce University women's soccer standout Amanda Panaro (Rockland, Mass.) has been named a finalist for the 2012 Northeast-10 Conference Woman of the Year Award. 

Panaro was named one of the conference's three finalists after she put together a stellar senior season in Rindge, including completing all of her degree requirements last December with a 3.85 cumulative grade point average.  She finished her collegiate career in just seven semesters and graduated earlier this month with a bachelor's degree in mass communication. Panaro was also named to the NE-10 Women's Soccer All-Academic Team for the second-consecutive year, was placed on the CoSIDA Academic All-District I First-Team and earned a spot on the Fall 2011 NE-10 Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll.

In addition to those impressive academic accomplishments, Panaro was also very active in other parts of the Franklin Pierce campus and proved to be one of the University's finest ambassadors. She was active in the school's student broadcasting program where she provided play-by-play and color commentary at various sporting events. Panaro also hosted her own campus radio and television shows. She also worked in the school's admissions department and served as a tour guide and overnight host for prospective students. Panaro also took part in various community service projects with the women's soccer program and was active in the school's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

She was also a standout on the soccer field for the Ravens in 2011, despite missing nearly half the season with an injury. Despite the injury, she tied for the team lead in goals with six and was named to the All-NE-10 Second-Team and NSCAA All-East Region Third-Team. Those awards came one year after she garnered numerous All-America honors as a junior when she led the NE-10 in goals (20) and points (44).

Panaro was joined by Adelphi's Eric Devito (women's lacrosse) and Saint Rose's Christina Cuffari (women's soccer) as the three finalists for the NE-10 woman-of-the-year accolade. The winner of the award will be announced at the conference's year-end banquet on Tuesday, June 5 in Portsmouth, N.H.

The conference's Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) Council selects the Northeast-10 Woman of the Year Award. The winner of the award will be forwarded as the conference's nominee for the NCAA National Woman of the Year Award, which will be announced later this summer.

For more information on Franklin Pierce women's soccer, please visit the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens).