NINE INDIVIDUALS, SAINT TEAM EARN NFHCA ACADEMIC HONORS

                March 12:  Nine members of St. Lawrence University’s 2008 field hockey team were named to the 2008 National Field Hockey Coaches Association National Academic Squad and the Saint team earned National Academic Team honors for compiling a grade point average of 3.00 or better.

                Senior Michelle Verrochi was one of 64 players nationally to earn National Academic Squad honors all four years. She was joined on the 2008 team by junior Rachel Burke, sophomores Kelsey Berry, Caitlin Estes and Michelle Laframboise and first year players Dylan Cutler, Emily Riley, Erika Swits and Jenny Thomas.
               

 

STETSON NAMED THIRD TEAM NATIONAL ALL AMERICA

                Nov. 25: St. Lawrence University junior field hockey back Jen Stetson has been named a third-team All America on the 2008 Longstreth/NFHCA Division III All-America team as announced by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association.

                Stetson is one of five players from New York State and one of two from the Liberty League to make the national All America squad. She is the seventh player to make the national All America list for the Saints since 2000 and St. Lawrence has now been recognized on the national squad in each of the last three seasons.

 

 

STETSON, LANNAMANN EARN REGIONAL ALL AMERICA HONORS

                Nov. 17: Junior Jen Stetson and senior Emilie Lannamann were named to the 2008 Longstreth/NFHCA Division III Regional All America team for the North Atlantic Region the National Field Hockey Coaches Association announced Monday.

                Stetson, a two-time Liberty League first-team all star at back, was named to the first team and will be considered for national All America status. A key to the Saint defense, she also made major contributions offensively on the penalty corner unit, finishing the year as the Saints’ second-leading scorer with six goals and two assists for 14 points. She scored two game-winning goals and was two-for-two on penalty strokes.

                Lannamann, the first-team All Liberty League goaltender, was named to the second team on the regional squad and finished her year with a 1.70 goals against average, a .802 save percentage and a 12-6-0 record which included four shutouts.

 

RILEY EARNS CONFERENCE HONORS

Nov. 11: The St. Lawrence University field hockey team's Emily Riley was recognized by the Liberty League on Monday afternoon for her performances over the weekend in the 2008 Liberty League Tournament.

 

Riley (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Springs) was named the league’s Rookie of the Week after being the only first year player named to the all-tournament team in the Championships. She had three shots and was outstanding defensively as the Saints beat Hamilton in the semifinals and lost to Skidmore in the title game.

 

St. Lawrence, who won the Liberty League Regular Season title, finished the 2008 season with a 12-6-0 record.

 

SKIDMORE TIPS SAINTS FOR LIBERTY LEAGUE FIELD HOCKEY CROWN

                Nov. 8: Skidmore sophomore Christine Kemp scored the only goal of the game with 5:37 to play in the first half as the Thoroughbreds beat St. Lawrence University 1-0 to win the 2008 Liberty League Field Hockey Championship Tournament and the automatic NCAA tournament bid that goes with it.

                Kemp, the tournament Most Valuable Player, redirected a cross-crease pass by Carolyne McManama into the far corner of the goal before Saint goalie Emilie Lannamann could get to the ball. It was Kemp’s second goal of the tournament and 17th of the season and came at the 29:23 mark of the first half.

St. Lawrence, the top seed in the tournament, pressed to tie it late in the second half, but could not get the ball through the Skidmore defense in a game which was evenly played from start to finish. Skidmore finished with a 11-10 overall edge in shots and had four shots on goal to two for the Saints. Each team had 10 penalty corners in the game.

Skidmore goaltender Liz Catinella posted her second shutout of the tournament with two saves while Lannamann finished with three for the Saints.

                Skidmore improves to 15-3 on the season while the Saints finish their year at 12-6.

                Joining Kemp on the all tournament team for Skidmore were Elise Britt, Catinella, defender Claire Superak, and forward Anne Murphy. The Saints were represented by defender Jen Stetson, forwards Joss-Elyse Smith and Brooke Maloney and midfielder Emily Riley. Union’s  Anne Hanson and Hamilton’s Colleen Callaghan were also named to the all tournament team.

 

 

SAINTS EDGE HAMILTON IN LIBERTY LEAGUE SEMIFINAL, 2-1

                Nov. 7:  Sophomore midfielder Michelle Laframboise scored her first collegiate goal with just 12 seconds to play as St. Lawrence University edged Hamilton College 2-1 in a Liberty League Field Hockey Championship semifinal game on the Saints’ North Country Field Friday, putting the Saints in the tournament championship game on Saturday.

                St. Lawrence, the top seed in the tournament, avenged its only league loss and continued a pattern of playing league games down to the wire in the tournament’s opening game. SLU, which went 6-1 in league regular season play, won three of its six league games in overtime and another in a shootout. SLU, 12-5 overall, will play second-seeded Skidmore, a 2-0 winner over Union in the second semifinal, in a 1 p.m. title game Saturday.

 

                It looked like Friday’s semifinal was headed for overtime before the Saints applied late pressure and drew a penalty corner with time running out. Jen Stetson took a shot off the penalty corner which glanced off a defender and sophomore Brooke Maloney controlled the loose ball and sent it across the goal mouth to Laframboise, who wristed it past scrambling Hamilton goaltender Courtney DeMaria with just 12 seconds left on the game clock.

 

                The goal ended a see-saw second half in which both teams had some golden scoring chances stopped by the other’s goaltender. DeMaria, who had eight saves in the game, stopped Taylor Vogt with 12 minutes to play in the game and made a big save against Erika Swits off a penalty corner with 7:15 to play. Saint goaltender Emilie Lannamann had only two saves in the game, but made a key stop on Mary Lancaster with Hamilton pressuring midway through the second half.

 

                The Saints opened the scoring in the game as Maloney scored her sixth of the season on a redirection following a penalty corner 12:26 into the game. Kristi Onzik sent the ball back across the goal mouth and Maloney tapped it past DeMaria to give the Saints the lead.

 

                Hamilton, which pressured late in the first half, continued to put the heat on the Saint defense early in the second half and tied the game 4:09 into the half when Colleen Callaghan put her seventh of the year between Lannamann and the post in a scramble at the goal mouth.

 

                The Saints outshot Hamilton, which finishes its season 8-7, 21-13 overall and 10-3 in shots on goal. SLU had 14 penalty corners to seven for the Continentals.

 

                The winner of Saturday’s championship game will receive the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

 

 

 

FIVE PLAYERS, COACHING STAFF EARN LEAGUE AWARDS

                Nov. 6: Five Saint players earned Liberty League field hockey all star honors and the Saint coaching staff was named Coaching Staff of the Year on the eve of the 2008 Liberty League Field Hockey Championships which St. Lawrence will host for the first time in league history on Friday and Saturday.

                Sophomore forward Brooke Maloney, junior back Jen Stetson and senior goaltender Emilie Lannamann were named first-team Liberty League All Stars while junior forward Joss-Elyse Smith and first-year midfielder Emily Riley were selected for the second team.

                Coach Fran Grembowicz and assistants Saegar Philpot and Melissa Pittelli were named Coaching Staff of the Year after guiding a lineup dominated by first years and sophomores to a share of the Liberty League regular season title and the first top seed for the Saints in league tournament history.

                Maloney led the Saints in scoring as a sophomore with five goals and seven assists for 17 points while Stetson, who is a key member of the Saint defense also contributes offensively on the penalty corner unit and was the second-leading scorer for the Saints with six goals and two assists for 14 points. She earned first-team honors for the second consecutive season. Lannamann was a key to the Saint success in 2008 with several big games including four overtime wins in league play. She takes a 1.78 goals against average, a .806 save percentage and four shutouts into the Liberty League tournament.

                Smith, a first-team selection last season, earned all league for the second straight year and was the fourth leading scorer for the Saints in the regular season with three goals and three assists while Riley had an impressive rookie season which included two goals and an assist, with both goals game-winners.

                The Saints will open the 2008 Liberty League tournament with a semifinal game against Hamilton at 11 a.m. on Friday on North Country Field. Second seeded Skidmore will play Union in the  other Friday semifinal at 2 p.m. with the winners meeting for the league championship and automatic NCAA berth that goes with it at 1 p.m. on Saturday.