New England Small College Athletic Conference

Women's Lacrosse All-Conference Selections Announced

5/6/2009 12:00:00 AM

Sheridan a Unanimous Choice, Named Player of the Year for Second-Straight Spring

HADLEY, Mass. – Colby senior midfielder Kate Sheridan (Hingham, Mass.) has been unanimously chosen by the conference coaches as the 2009 NESCAC Player of the Year. It is the second time in as many years that Sheridan has garnered the league’s top honor, as she became the first Colby individual to be recognized as Player of the Year in 2008. Sheridan has helped the Mules to a program-best 16-1 record this season along with a second-straight NESCAC Women’s Lacrosse title.

The 2006 NESCAC Rookie of the Year, Sheridan also found a spot on the All-Conference First Team for the third consecutive year. Once again this season, Sheridan paces the conference in scoring with 34 goals and a personal-best 51 assists for 85 points, needing just six more points to tie last year’s career figure. Sheridan is also tied for the league lead in draw controls at 38 and is tops among her teammates in ground balls with 39. When her time in Waterville is complete, Sheridan will walk away with multiple program records. Sheridan broke the career scoring mark at Colby earlier this season as she heads into this weekend’s NCAA Tournament action with 181 goals and 113 assists for 294 points. Already the owner of the single-season records for goals and points, Sheridan needs just three more helpers to add the single-season assists title to her collection, while only one more assist will give her the career assists record.

At attack on the All-NESCAC First Team were four individuals, Amherst senior Amy Craig (Denver, Colo.), Colby junior Amy Campbell (North Andover, Mass.), and sophomores Chase Delano (Greenwich, Conn.) of Middlebury and Rachel Romanowsky (Hampstead, N.H.) of Trinity. A Second Team selection in 2007 and a First Team recipient in 2008, Craig led the Jeffs in scoring for the second-straight year with 43 goals and eight assists for 51 points along with 26 draw controls. Campbell, who set a championship record for goals in a game with seven against Wesleyan in the quarterfinals, is second to Sheridan on the Colby stat sheet, tallying 39 goals and seven assists for 46 points. Delano has nearly doubled her first year production, starting all 14 games with a team-high 41 goals along with 12 assists for 53 points. Romanowsky, the NESCAC Rookie of the Year and a Second Team member last spring, bested her 65 points in 2008 in four fewer games, scoring 46 goals and 20 assists for 66 points in 13 outings as she led the NESCAC in points (5.08) and goals (3.54) per game.

The Tufts midfielder tandem of senior Chrissie Attura (Yarmouth, Maine.) and sophomore Amanda Roberts (Wenham, Mass.) moved up from last year’s Second Team to this year’s First Team. Attura is third for the Jumbos in points with a personal-best 45 on 14 goals and 31 assists while also contributing 28 ground balls and 22 draw controls. Roberts leads her team in scoring for the second-straight season, as her 45 goals are third among all NESCAC players while her 57 points are sixth. She has also recorded 38 ground balls, 31 draw controls, and 22 caused turnovers in 16 starts. Senior Heather Nickerson (Falmouth, Mass.) joined Sheridan from Colby at midfield on the First Team. Nickerson is in the midst of a career year with 42 points (36-6-42), just behind Sheridan and Campbell for the Mules. She has also caused a team-leading 22 turnovers and scooped up 35 ground balls.

On defense, Williams senior Elizabeth Burns (Dover, Del.) returned to the First Team for a second year in a row. Burns is among the league leaders in multiple statistical categories with 50 ground balls (T-1st), 30 draw controls (T-8th), and 29 caused turnovers (4th). Along with Burns on defense were Middlebury senior Taryn Petrelli (Harrison, N.Y.) and Tufts junior Alyssa Kopp (Hollis, N.H.). Petrelli, a Second Team member in 2008, is part of a Panther defense that ranks second in the conference in goals against at 9.10, as she has contributed 28 grounders and a team-high 22 caused turnovers in addition to two goals and one assist. Kopp is tops for the Jumbos in draw controls (38) and caused turnovers (25) while ranking second on her squad in ground balls (45).

Williams sophomore goalkeeper Julia Schreiber (Cockeysville, Md.) completes the 2009 NESCAC All-Conference First Team. Starting all 18 games so far this season for the Ephs, Schreiber is 12-6 with a 9.15 goals against average and a .512 save percentage. During the 2009 NESCAC Women’s Lacrosse Championship, Schreiber backboned her team to its first-ever appearance in the conference final by averaging 13.0 saves per game and a .527 save percentage.

Eph attacker Margie Fulton (Wellesley, Mass.) added to a stellar first year at Williams by being named NESCAC Rookie of the Year. Fulton heads up the NESCAC first year players in scoring, as her 70 points on 44 goals and 26 assists are not only tied with senior teammate Britt Spackman for the Williams lead but also rank second in the league in points. Along with Spackman, Fulton was also selected to the All-NESCAC Second Team.

Tufts head coach Carol Rappoli was the choice among her counterparts for Coach of the Year. In the midst of her 24th season guiding the Jumbos, Rappoli’s team won a school-record 14 games, finished atop the NESCAC standings for the first time, and earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth. It is the first time that Rappoli, who is sixth across all NCAA divisions in wins with 279 through 31 seasons, has received NESCAC Coach of the Year.