Annville, PA – With the women's lacrosse conference tournament just one day away, the Commonwealth announced award winners for 2014. Messiah was honored with eight winners, including Defensive Player of the Year Emily Mumford, Rookie of the Year Brooke Gamble, and Coach of the Year Heather Greer.
 
Mumford took home Defensive Player of the Year honors after a standout season as the Falcons' most imposing defender. She forced a team-best 33 caused turnovers (CT) and picked up a team-best 47 groundballs (GB), with more than a third (12) of her CT coming in the Falcons' seven conference games. The All-Commonwealth honor was the second-straight of her career.
 
Brooke Gamble is the sixth Rookie of the Year for the Falcons since 2008. She scored 13 goals and added 15 this season with six of those tallies and 11 of the helpers coming in conference games. She was also named Honorable Mention in the conference.
 
Both Lizzy Keeney and Claire Stikeleather were named to the first team with Mumford. Keeney is arguably the finest offensive player in the conference and is in the midst of an historic season. Thus far she has 61 goals, 32 assists, and 88 draw controls (DC), with her goals per game and points per game averages leading the league. She puts an impressive .849 percent of her shots on frame and her 88 draw controls are a single-season record for Messiah. This is her fourth-straight All-Commonwealth honor, including a Rookie of the Year award from 2011.
 
Stikeleather has done a bit of everything for Messiah in the midfield with 28 goals, 14 assists, 38 GB, 18 CT, and 32 DC. She has come on strong as of late, scoring 19 goals in the Falcons' last seven games. She is also a former Rookie of the Year (2011).
 
The Second Team honorees for Messiah were Madi Brunk, Molly Devilbiss, and Ida Ehrhardt. Brunk's unassuming style may cause one to miss her impressive, team-leading assist total of 38—just four shy of the single-season record held by Gabrielle Hamelryck '13. She's also scored 24 goals and collected 24 GB.
 
Devilbiss and Ehrhardt have been big contributors to Messiah's defensive unit, as they've combined for 60 GB, 32 CT, and 53 DC.
 
The Coach of the Year award for Greer is the third of her career (2009, 2011). This season Greer has led the Falcons to a 10-6 record despite playing a host of teams ranked within the IWLCA Top-10. The Falcons' 6-1 record in the conference also put them—via tie-breaker—into the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed.
 
The Falcons will host No. 4 Alvernia University tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. in the Semifinal. They are looking for their first conference championship since 2011 and their fourth trip the NCAA Tournament in the past six seasons.

A complete listing of All-Commonwealth honors is below:
 

Offensive Player of the Year	Bailey Benz	Lebanon Valley
Defensive Player of the Year	Emily Mumford	Messiah
Rookie of the Year	Brooke Gamble	Messiah
Coach of the Year	Heather Greer	Messiah
First Team
Position	Name	School	Year	Hometown	High School
Attack	Sam Boyce	Lebanon Valley	SO	Bel Air, MD	Patterson Mill
Attack	Lizzy Keeney	Messiah	SR	Cockeysville, MD	Dulaney
Attack	Leah Warner	Stevenson	SR	Pasadena, MD	Northeast
Midfield	Bailey Benz	Lebanon Valley	JR	Ellicott City, MD	Howard
Midfield	Mackenzie Lindquist	Widener	JR	Ocean City, NJ	Ocean City
Midfield	Amanda Smith	Albright	SO	Barto, PA	Boyertown
Midfield	Claire Stikeleather	Messiah	SO	Oakton, VA	Oakton
Midfield	Nora Walsh	Alvernia	SR	Hatfield, PA	Lansdale Catholic
Defense	Meg Gill	Stevenson	JR	White Hall, MD	North Harford
Defense	Emily Mumford	Messiah	SR	Flemington, NJ	Hunterdon Central Regional
Defense	Sara Vanderbogart	Lebanon Valley	SR	Boonton Twp, NJ	Mountain Lakes
Goal Keeper	Leanne Bitner	Stevenson	JR	Baltimore, MD	Loch Raven
Second Team
Position	Name	School	Year	Hometown	High School
Attack	Madi Brunk	Messiah	JR	Wyncote, PA	Cheltenham
Attack	Marissa Meiklejohn	Stevenson	SR	Severn, MD	Old Mill
Attack	Giuliana Rizzotti	Albright	FR	Huntington, N.Y.	Walt Whitman
Midfield	Erin Cieniewicz	Lycoming	JR	Shillington, PA	Governor Mifflin
Midfield	Candace Knight	Alvernia	JR	Darlington, Md	Havre De Grace
Midfield	Amanda LeGar	Stevenson	JR	Eldersburg, MD	Liberty
Midfield	Anna Pagels	Lebanon Valley	JR	Hampstead, MD	North Carroll
Midfield	Meghan Wilson	Albright	JR	Barnegat, N.J.	Barnegat
Defense	Molly Devilbiss	Messiah	JR	Taneytown, MD	Francis Scott Key
Defense	Ida Ehrhardt	Messiah	FR	Bel Air, MD	C. Milton Wright
Defense	Nicole Klusewitz	Albright	SO	Mohnton, PA	Governor Mifflin
Goal Keeper	Lauren Couch	Hood	SO	Crownsville, MD	Old Mill
Honorable Mention
Position	Name	School	Year	Hometown	High School
Midfield	Amy Albano	Widener	SR	Columbia, MD	Hammond
Midfield	Brooke Gamble	Messiah	FR	Malvern, PA	Great Valley
Goal Keeper	Nicole Gerling	Lycoming	FR	Millstone Township, NJ	Allentown
Defense	Alexandria Leddy	Alvernia	SO	Exeter, PA	Exeter
Defense	Anne Lessard	Hood	FR	Natick, MA	Natick
Goal Keeper	Shelby Morris	Lebanon Valley	SO	White Hall, MD	North Harford
Goal Keeper	Colleen Reilly	Alvernia	SO	Medford, NJ	Shawnee
Attack	Jacquelyn Strange	Alvernia	JR	Newtown, PA	Council Rock North

 

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