Roessler and Herlihy Headline A-10 Lacrosse All-Conference Awards
April 23, 2009 Atlantic 10 Championship Guide PHILADELPHIA---Head coach Denise Roessler and senior goalkeeper Suzy Herlihy were named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively, the Conference office announced today. Ten Hawks in all were recipients of All-Conference honors. In voting conducted by the coaches, Jenna Martino, Helene Tursi, and Abby Renninger earned spots with Herlihy on the All-Conference First Team; Jontell Lyons garnered Second Team consideration, while Meghan McDevitt and Julie Mineweaser were named members of the All-Rookie squad. The Coach of the Year award is the first for Roessler, who is in her 11th year at Saint Joseph's. She guided her charges to the most successful season in school history, winning a season-most nine games and fielding the best SJU squad in A-10 play with a 5-2 record. No previous team had won more than two games. Herlihy garnered the Defensive Player of the Year award for the first time in school history. The senior out of Clarksville, Md. led the league in goals against average (8.48) and save percentage (.521). She is the all-time wins leader at SJU (23), second all-time in GAA and saves. Martino, the team leader in goals (49) and points (66), was tabbed to be on the First Team for the second consecutive year. She has been the cog in the team's offense that set new records in goals and points. Martino is two goals and four points shy of the single-season records in both categories.
Working out of the midfield, Tursi put up career-best numbers scoring 34 goals in 2009, second most on the team. She added five assists for 39 points this season, putting her second behind Martino. Renninger found a spot on the First Team as well with her splendid defensive play out of the midfield. Known for her aggressive play, Renninger caused 22 turnovers in 2009, which now ranks her third all-time in school history in caused turnovers (57). Additionally she has provided the team with eight goals, six assists and 22 ground balls. Another defender, Lyons, is the team's leader in caused turnovers (23) and has also picked up 24 ground balls this season. Those stats and her hounding defense were good enough to acquire Second Team honors, the only Hawk on the squad to do so. It's the first A-10 recognition of any kind for Roessler, Tursi, Renninger or Lyons. Saint Joseph's placed two student-athletes on the All-Rookie Team as McDevitt and Mineweaser were also named by the coaches as two of the top 12 rookies in the league. McDevitt's strong offensive numbers included 28 goals and five assists, while Mineweaser had 15 and nine out of the midfield. Mineweaser added 26 ground balls, 22 draw conrols and 14 caused turnovers in 2009. Jessica Westlake and Christine Readinger notched spots on the All-Conference All-Academic squad, which was voted on by the Conference's sports information directors as announced by the A-10. Westlake has the team's highest GPA as an accounting major. This is her third time named to the All-Academic team. Readinger, majoring in finance, was the lone sophomore on the team. The bounty of awards is the most in team history continuing the trend of record-making stats by this year's team. The Hawks take on Richmond at 3:30 p.m. on Temple's Geasey Field in the Atlantic 10 Championship on Friday. SAINT JOSEPH'S ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE AWARDS First Team Second Team Rookie Team All-Academic |
