ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College senior attack
Stephanie Kreis was named Middle Atlantic Conference Player of the Year and
Mike Faith earned Coach of the Year honors as the MAC honored seven Blue Jays as All-Conference selections in women's lacrosse.
Joining Kreis on the first team were midfielder
Katie Caprinolo and defender
Alexis Morris, with attack
Megan Byrnes, midfielder
Meg Cassels and defender
Anna Meerbach on the second team and midfielder
Sarah Cullinan as an honorable mention selection.
The Blue Jays (16-4 overall, 12-0 MAC) won the first Middle Atlantic Conference championship in program history, and defeated Washington & Lee University 13-2 in a NCAA first-round game Wednesday night. Elizabethtown will play the University of Mary Washington in a second-round game Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Franklin &Marshall College.
Kreis, a three-time All-Conference pick, earned MAC Player of the Year honors after leading the conference in assists with a school single-season record total of 60 and in points with 105. Kreis is the second player in program history to score 100 points in a season, joining
Katie Foley '09 who had 115 points in 2009. She ranks fourth in program history in career points (220) and goals (136) and is third in assists with 84.
Faith was named Coach of the Year for the second time in his career (2007) after guiding the Blue Jays to a the first conference championship in program history, all while having to replace the team's top three scorers from last season (to graduation) and three starters from this year's squad (to injury). In six seasons, Faith has a 68-37 overall record, and over the last four years has led his team to a 40-1 record in MAC regular-season games.
Caprinolo was named first-team All-MAC for the first time after twice previously being a second-team pick. She shares the team lead in goals with 50 and was named MAC tournament Most Valuable Player after scoring five goals in the championship game. She ranks fifth in program history with 123 goals and seventh with 133 points in her career.
Morris stepped into the starting lineup on defense and leads the team in draw controls (30) while ranking second in ground balls (32) and caused turnovers (27) despite missing five games due to injury.
Byrnes, named to the second team for the fourth straight year, scored 40 goals and added 21 assists for 61 points to rank third on the squad in scoring. She is currently ranked third in both career goals (160) and points (234) and ranks fourth in career assists with 74.
Cassels is a first-time All-MAC selection after tallying 19 goals and eight assists for 27 points. She is third on the team with 30 ground balls and ranks fourth on the squad with 23 draw controls. In 55 career games, she has 46 goals and 18 assists for 64 points along with 56 ground balls and 53 draw controls.
Meerbach is also a first-time All-MAC pick, as she finished with 19 ground balls, 17 draw controls and 13 caused turnovers while helping the Blue Jays rank 21st in Division III in scoring defense at 7.95 goals per game. In two seasons, Meerbach has accumulated 31 ground balls, 22 draw controls and 16 caused turnovers in 36 games.
Cullinan was an honorable mention selection after being named second-team All-MAC in each of her first two years. She tied for the team lead with 50 goals and ranks second with 71 points, while leading the team in both ground balls (45) and caused turnovers (41). In her career, she ranks eighth with 81 goals, 10th with 40 assists and ninth with 121 points in 52 games.