Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference - Bloomsburg's Chelsea Due, Shippensburg's Kristina Taylor Named PSAC Field Hockey Athletes of the Year

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Bloomsburg's Chelsea Due, Shippensburg's Kristina Taylor Named PSAC Field Hockey Athletes of the Year
Fink, Taylor named league's top freshmen; Hutchinson, Landes named Coaches of the Year
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PSAC East Player of the Year Chelsea Due of Bloomsburg (left) and PSAC West Player of the Year Kristina Taylor of Shippensburg (right)
PSAC East Player of the Year Chelsea Due of Bloomsburg (left) and PSAC West Player of the Year Kristina Taylor of Shippensburg (right)

2009 All-PSAC Field Hockey Teams (pdf)

Lock Haven, Pa. - Chelsea Due
of Bloomsburg and Kristina Taylor of Shippensburg have been named the PSAC Field Hockey Athletes of the Year, highlighting the 2009 All-PSAC Field Hockey teams. Defenders Mical Fink of East Stroudsburg and Ashley Taylor of Shippensburg have been named the PSAC East and West Freshmen of the Year, respectively, while Jan Hutchinson of Bloomsburg and Bertie Landes of Shippensburg have been named the PSAC Coaches of the Year.

There were a lot of new faces on the All-PSAC teams this year, as there were a total of 33 first time honorees this year between both the All-PSAC East and West first and second teams out of 44 total all-conference honorees. Only 11 all-conference honorees this year had previously been honored as an All-PSAC selection and just three All-PSAC picks this year are former first team All-PSAC selections. Due of Bloomsburg is the only four-time first team All-PSAC selection as she was named to the All-PSAC East first team. Taylor and Kim Tully of Shippensburg were the only other former first team selections to also be named all-conference this year.

Earning their third all-conference selection of their careers was the Mansfield duo of Brittany Kostishion and Courtney Grunza, both of whom were named to the All-PSAC West first team. Both seniors had both been second team all-conference selections twice before in their careers. That duo, along with Due, were the only three individuals with more than one previous all-conference award in their careers to be named all-conference this year. Also of note, East Stroudsburg’s Jessica Frantz was named second team All-PSAC East this year after being named to the All-PSAC West second team last year while a member of the IUP team.

PSAC West champion Shippensburg and PSAC East and Tournament champion Bloomsburg each led the way with seven All-PSAC selections each. The Lady Raiders had six first team selections in the West to lead all teams. Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg each led the way with three first team selections each in the East. Overall, the Warriors had four total selections on the All-East teams, as did both Millersville and C.W. Post, while Kutztown had three. Mercyhurst and Mansfield each had five overall selections in the West while IUP had two. Slippery Rock had three selections, all second teamers, marking the first all-conference field hockey selections for The Rock since 1998. The three all-league picks for The Rock is also the most in any single year in school history since PSAC records of all-conference teams have been kept.

Due is the third straight Bloomsburg player to be named a PSAC Athlete of the Year, following Jamie Vanartsdalen, who was named the PSAC East Athlete of the Year last year and the overall PSAC Athlete of the Year two seasons ago under the previous one division format. Due enters the NCAA Tournament with eight goals and four assists for 20 points for the 20-1 Huskies and in her midfield position, also helped contribute to a defense that leads the PSAC in goals against average at 0.71 and has allowed just 15 goals in 21 games.

Taylor follows up her PSAC West Freshman of the Year award from last year by garnering the Athlete of the Year award this year. She follows former teammate Kim Davies, who was honored as last season’s PSAC West Athlete of the Year. Taylor is at or near the top of all of the PSAC’s offensive categories. She is second in points with 54, first in points per game with 2.70, second in goals with 23, and leads in goals per game with 1.15. She is also ranked in the top 10 in both assists and assists per game.

Fink becomes East Stroudsburg’s first ever PSAC East Freshman of the Year. The back started all 20 games this year for the 14-6 Warriors, helped lead them to a second place finish in the PSAC East. Her outstanding play on defense helped the Warriors rank in the upper half of the PSAC in goals against average with a respectable 1.68 gaa, good for fourth in the conference.

Ashley Taylor, no relation to her teammate and Player of the Year Kristina Taylor, played a similar role on defense for the Lady Raiders, as she started all 21 games at back and recorded three goals and seven assists for 13 points. She was second on the team in assists and her play on defense helped Shippensburg record a league-best 12 shutouts on the year and finished second in the PSAC in goals against average at 0.71. She is the second straight Lady Raider to claim the PSAC West Freshman of the Year, following Kristina Taylor last year.

The East Coach of the Year award for Hutchinson marks the sixth time that the longtime Bloomsburg coach, who is retiring after this season, has claimed the award, although each of the previous five were under the one-division format. She was last honored by her peers in 2006. After losing several key players, including Division II’s all-time leading scorer, from last year’s team that claimed the program’s third consecutive national championship, Hutchinson led the Huskies to a 20-1 record this season and a PSAC tournament championship for the second straight year. The Huskies will be the No. 1 seed in the region in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

The West Coach of the Year award for Landes is her first since 2005 and her fourth Coach of the Year award overall, although again, her previous three came under the one-division format. Landes guided Shippensburg to its first PSAC West title ever and its first regular season PSAC championship since 2005. The Lady Raiders also made their ninth straight appearance in the PSAC tournament, and played in the PSAC championship game for the first time since 2006. Shippensburg will make its second straight NCAA appearance this coming weekend.


 

2009 All-PSAC East Field Hockey Team

First Team

Forward
Caitlin Brownley, East Stroudsburg 
Krystal Napolitano, C.W. Post 
Amanda Riley, Bloomsburg 

Midfielder%
Kim Angstadt, Kutztown 
Amanda Deloy, Bloomsburg 
Meredith Dolinger,^ Millersville 
Chelsea Due,*** Bloomsburg 
Joanna Reckley, East Stroudsburg 

Back
Krista Bupp, Millersville
Mical Fink, East Stroudsburg 
Anne Waapu,^ Kutztown 

Goalkeeper
Cortney Colern, C.W. Post 


Second Team

Forward
Maggey Bloskey, Bloomsburg 
Jessica Frantz,^ East Stroudsburg 
Amanda Nann, C.W. Post 

Midfielder%
Melissa McCarthy, Millersville 
Amanda Miller, C.W. Post 
Courtney Zook, Kutztown 

Back
Aubrey Carman, Bloomsburg 
Betsy Renn, Bloomsburg 
Maria Thompson, Millersville 

Goalkeeper
Caitlin Koczynski, Bloomsburg 

 

PSAC East Athlete of the Year
Chelsea Due, Bloomsburg 

PSAC East Freshman of the Year
Mical Fink, East Stroudsburg 

PSAC East Coach of the Year
Jan Hutchinson, Bloomsburg

* Indicates previous All-PSAC first team selection
^ Indicates previous All-PSAC second team selection

%  Additional honorees on first team, fewer on second team due to tie

 

 


2009 All-PSAC West Field Hockey Team

First Team

Forward
Jamie Doughty, Shippensburg 
Kristina Taylor,* Shippensburg 
Emily Warren,^ Mercyhurst

Midfielder
Kristen Fogle, Mercyhurst 
Brittany Kostishion,^^ Mansfield
Kim Tully,* Shippensburg 
Mariah Wooters, Shippensburg 

Back
Courtney Grunza,^^ Mansfield 
Courtney Loper,^ Mercyhurst 
Ashley Taylor, Shippensburg 

Goalkeeper
Amanda Houser,^ Shippensburg 


Second Team

Forward
Jaimie Purdy, Mansfield 
Jessie Wolski, Mansfield 
Sara Wowkowych, Mercyhurst 

Midfielder
Kristyn Grunza, Mansfield 
Gabrielle Malishchak, Slippery Rock 
Erin Shirk, IUP 
Serena Slattery, Mercyhurst 

Back
Lois Kaschenbach, Shippensburg
Erin Moran, Slippery Rock 
Caroline van Tulder, IUP 

Goalkeeper
Lisa Belcastro, Slippery Rock 

 

PSAC West Athlete of the Year
Kristina Taylor, Shippensburg 

PSAC West Freshman of the Year
Ashley Taylor, Shippensburg 

PSAC West Coach of the Year
Bertie Landes, Shippensburg

* Indicates previous All-PSAC first team selection
^ Indicates previous All-PSAC second team selection