Annville, PA — Messiah was heavily honored by the Middle Atlantic Conference Monday, earning nine All-MAC awards on the heels of the program's third MAC Championship.
Freshman Lizzy Keeney was named the MAC Rookie of the Year and head coach Heather Greer the MAC Coach of the Year, highlighting a program-record nine honorees at the conference level: Senior Kara Geiman, juniors Rachel Dirksen and Rachel Coyle and sophomore Taylor Phillips were all named First Team All-MAC selections, while Keeney, junior Meghan Doolittle and senior Andrea Thomas were voted Second Team All-MAC. Senior Megan Bovenzi earned Honorable Mention All-MAC status, rounding off Messiah's dominance on the all-league lists.
Keeney's ROY award marked the fourth consecutive year that Messiah attained the honor, as Keeney's named joined Geiman (2008 MAC Rookie of the Year), Dirksen (2009) and current sophomore Maddie Comfort (2010) as Falcon phenoms.
Like her predecessors, Keeney was outstanding all over the field, finishing third on the team in goals (42) and assists (16). She was absolutely critical in the draw control circle for Messiah, coming up with 41 decisions (tied for third on the squad) but responsible for many more: Keeney took nearly every draw for the Falcons on the year, helping the team come up with 16.1 draws per game — the 10th highest amount in all of NCAA Division III.
Keeney's honor was Messiah's sixth conference rookie of the year award in the 15-year history of the program.
Geiman earned her second First Team All-MAC selection in her second year of competing in a Falcons' uniform, scoring a team-leading 49 goals and dishing out a squad-high 38 assists. The latter was the second-highest amount among MAC institutions and 27th-best in all of NCAA Division III. Like Keeney, Geiman also recorded 41 draw controls and finished a team-best 13 of 19 on free position shots on the year.
Dirksen and Coyle paced the Falcons' midfield, as Dirksen picked up her third straight First Team All-MAC honor and Coyle her second consecutive. Dirksen scored 39 goals and dished out 12 assists, finishing second on the team in draw controls with 54. Coyle, meanwhile, was a monster away from the cage, leading the team in draws (69), ground balls (56) and caused turnovers (42). Her 42 forced giveaways is the 17th-best amount in all of NCAA Division III.
Phillips earned her first all-league honor after having a tremendous season in goal, posting a .569 save percentage and 4.98 goals-against average, both marks second-best among all of NCAA Division III competition. Thomas earned her initial all-conference honor in making All-MAC Second Team, joining Phillips on a low defense that gave up just five goals per game — the second lowest amount in the nation.
Doolittle joined Keeney and Thomas with second-team all-league accolades, scoring 40 goals and dishing out 15 assists while quarterbacking the offense. The Falcons' two units helped generate a 12.56-goal average margin of victory, the second-highest margin among all NCAA Division III teams. Doolittle's honor came after earning honorable mention status last year.
Bovenzi's senior campaign ended with a bang, as the Rochester, New York native added an honorable mention award to two first-team accolades, scoring 23 goals and dishing out nine assists.
Greer, meanwhile, racked up her second MAC Coach of the Year honor in just four seasons at the helm, leading the Falcons to their third league title overall and second in her tenure. Messiah is in the midst of a program-record 13 game winning streak and completed a flawless, 12-0 MAC regular-season mark in dominating fashion, outscoring conference opponents by an average of 19.5 to 4.25 per game.
Collectively, Messiah's success came by committee, as 12 players scored 10 goals or more on the season. Not one player appeared in the league's top 10 list in goals per game, though the team led the league overall.
Messiah's nine all-conference awards were a program record, while the number was two more than the next-highest amount in Elizabethtown College's seven selections. The Blue Jays' Sarah Cullinan was named the MAC Player of the Year, who matched her career high with 51 goals on the year, adding 47 assists.
Messiah will host Denison University Wednesday at 3 p.m. in the First Round of the 2011 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championships. A complete list of All-MAC honorees follows:
First Team All-Middle Atlanic Conference
Player — Team — Pos. — Yr. — Hometown/(High School
Sarah Cullinan — Elizabethtown — Attack — Senior — West Chester, PA/West Chester East
Sarah Frankowiak — FDU-Florham — Attack — Senior — Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central
Kara Geiman — Messiah — Attack — Senior — Westminster, MD/Winter Mill
Rachel Dirksen — Messiah — Midfielder — Junior — Glenside, PA/Abington
Grace Gargiulo — Lycoming — Midfielder — Junior — Branchburg, NJ/Immaculata
Hana Krechel — Lebanon Valley — Midfielder — Sophomore — Fawn Grove, PA/Kennard-Dale
Lindsey Parent — FDU-Florham — Midfielder — Junior — Cinnaminson, NJ/Cinnaminson
Kara Solesky — Elizabethtown — Midfielder — Sophomore — Parkville, MD/Mercy
Rachel Coyle — Messiah — Defender — Junior — Harleysville, PA/Souderton Area
Alexis Morris — Elizabethtown — Defender — Sophomore — Whiteford, MD/North Harford
Stefanie Sanzari — FDU-Florham — Defender — Senior — Fairfield, NJ/West Essex
Taylor Phillips — Messiah — Goalie — Sophomore — Berlin, MD/Stephen Decatur
Second Team All-Middle Atlanic Conference
Player — Team — Pos. — Yr. — Hometown (High School)
Meghan Doolittle — Messiah — Attack — Junior — Tabernacle, NJ/Seneca
Grace Griffith — Eastern — Attack — Senior — Amherst, MA/Amherst Regional
Lizzy Keeney — Messiah — Attack — Freshman — Cockeysville, MD/Dulaney
Alyssa Verrillo — Alvernia — Attack — Sophomore — North Wales, PA/Archbishop Wood
Erika Depelteau — FDU-Florham — Midfielder — Senior — West Windsor, NJ/West Windsor Plainsboro North
Bari Rosenstein — Elizabethtown — Midfielder — Freshman — Owings Mills, MD/Owings Mills
Felicia Sippel — Alvernia — Midfielder — Senior — Philadelphia, PA/Saint Hubert
Katie Scheurich — Elizabethtown — Midfielder — Junior — Lancaster, PA/Conestoga Valley
Breana Kilpatrick — FDU-Florham — Midfielder — Junior — Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic
Megan Corrigan — Alvernia — Defender — Junior — Boyertown, PA/Boyertown
Lindsey Miller — Elizabethtown — Defender — Freshman — Ocean City, MD/Stephen Dectar
Andrea Thomas — Messiah — Defender — Senior — Lancaster, PA/Living Word
Kristin Betsill — Manhattanville — Goalie — Senior — Parkton, MD/Hereford
Honorable Mention All-Middle Atlanic Conference
Player — Team — Pos. — Yr. — Hometown/High School
Lindsay Buckman — Lebanon Valley — Attack — Freshman — Palmyra, PA/Palmyra
Becky Porter — Elizabethtown — Attack — Sophomore — Phoenixville, PA/Phoenixville
Megan Bovenzi — Messiah — Midfielder — Senior — Rochester, NY/Irondequoit
Melissa Goncalves — Manhattanville — Midfielder — Sophomore — Holtsville, NY/Sachem East
Samantha Landis — Alvernia — Midfielder — Junior — Watsontown, NJ/Warrior Run
Brooke Strausser — Lycoming — Midfielder — Sophomore — Wernersville, PA/Conrad Weiser
Calina Walz — Widener — Midfielder — Senior — Medford, NJ/Shawnee
Courtney Reinhold — Eastern — Midfielder — Junior — Adamstown, PA/Cocalico
Kelly Donahue — Arcadia — Defender — Senior — Warrington, PA/Central Bucks South
Kaitlyn Gamber — Arcadia — Defender — Senior — Lansdowne, PA/Archbishop Pendergast
Kelsey Johnson — FDU-Florham— Defender — Freshman — Blairstown, NJ/North Warren
Lindsey Moosey — Eastern — Defender — Senior — Zionsville, IN/Zionsville
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Sarah Cullinan, Elizabethtown
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Lizzy Keeney, Messiah
COACH OF THE YEAR: Heather Greer, Messiah
