April 24, 2008

2008 All-Conference Teams

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Richmond junior teammates Allison Furstenburg and Mandy Friend earned Offensive Player and Midfielder of the Year honors, respectively, in voting conducted among the Conference's head coaches. This is the first time in league history that the Conference recognized a Midfielder of the Year.

In that same vote, St. Bonaventure senior goalkeeper Eboni Preston was named Defensive Player of the Year, Richmond's Anne Ryan was tabbed Rookie of the Year and Bonnie Rosen of Temple was named Coach of the Year. Additionally, Duquesne junior Kathleen McNish was named Student-Athlete of the Year in voting by the Conference's sports information directors.

Furstenburg leads the top-seeded Spiders in goals scored with 53, which is second in the A-10. She also ranks second in the league in points per game (4.65) and goals per game (3.12). Her points per game total are seventh in the nation entering this weekend's Championship. Hailing from Whitehouse Station, N.J., the attack player was named A-10 Player of the Week on March 31, and earned second-team All-Conference honors along with A-10 All-Championship team accolades a year ago. She boasts 14 multi-goal games in 17 contests and has scored at least one goal in every contest this year.

After earning Co-Offensive Player of the Year honors last season, Friend garners the league's first-ever Midfielder of the Year award. She enters the Atlantic 10 Championship with 51 goals and 35 assists for 86 points on the season, ranking her first in the league in total points and second nationally. The native of Canandaigua, N.Y., is a three-time A-10 Player of the Week honoree and is on the Tewaarton Award watch list, which is given to the nation's top women's lacrosse player. She ranks third in the league in goals and second in assists, while leading the Conference in ground balls per game (3.17). Friend is a two-time All-American and is making her third appearance on the A-10 All-Conference first-team.

Preston earned All-Conference second-team honors as a junior and is making her first appearance as a first-team honoree. The goalie from New Windsor, Md., leads the Conference in saves (170), saves per game (12.0) and save percentage (54.1), and leads the nation in saves per game while ranking second nationally in save percentage. She had double-digit saves in 11 contests, including six A-10 contests.

Joining Furstenburg, Friend and Preston on the All-Conference first-team are Duquesne's Kathleen McNish and Tyneisha Harris; Kimberly Ross of St. Bonaventure; Temple's Whitney Richards, Nicole Caniglia and Berkley Summerlin; Emily Bonczek of La Salle; Richmond's Samantha Tract; and Jenna Martino from Saint Joseph's.

The All-Conference second-team consists of St. Bonaventure's Brenna Houghton; Kristin Karsch and Katelyn Honeyford of George Washington; Duquesne's Ashley Wood and Shannon Hadaway; Kaytlin McCormick, Jeannette Villapiano, Julie Papaleo and Jackie Rosenzweig of Massachusetts; and Lindsay-Kate McCool, Christina Colangelo and Suzy Herlihy of Saint Joseph's.

Ryan enjoyed an outstanding rookie season for Richmond and is the second player from Richmond in three years to earn the top rookie honor. The two-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week is fifth on her team in goals scored (20) and ground balls (24). A native of Darien, Conn., she is one of Richmond's top one-on-one defenders from her center midfield position and has six multi-goal performances on the season.

Including Ryan, the All-Conference rookie team features Richmond teammates Bria Eulitt and Jules Nicola; Duquesne's Liz Fey, Courtney Lambert and Liz Walker; St. Bonaventure's Christine Hanley; Jennifer Homka of Temple; George Washington's Audrey Joy; Jackie Lyons and Kelsey Schreiner from Massachusetts; and Christine Readinger of Saint Joseph's

McNish garners Student-Athlete of the Year honors. The junior attack player from Caldwell, N.J., enters this weekend's A-10 Championship as Duquesne's all-time assist leader with 110 career assists, breaking a record that stood since 2000. She earned first-team All-Conference honors for the second straight season and ranks first in the Conference and fifth nationally in assists per game (2.62) and fourth in the A-10 in points per game (4.44). McNish maintains a 3.59 grade point average as an elementary education major.

McNish is joined on the Academic All-Conference team by teammate Janna Faulkner; Christina Colangelo and Jessica Westlake of Saint Joseph's; Merritt Cosgrove of Massachusetts; Richmond's Claire Cunniff; Caitlin Garman and Hayley McDonough of George Washington; La Salle's Jessica Hanson; Temple's Bridget McMullan and Berkley Summerlin; and Kerri Vito from St. Bonaventure.

In her second season, Rosen guided Temple to the program's league-leading eighth A-10 regular season title and a No. 2 seed in the upcoming Championship. Rosen helped the Owls to their best start since 2002 and finished the regular season with 11 wins, the most victories since 2004. A 1993 graduate of the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science degree in education, Rosen was a four-year, two-sport athlete, playing both lacrosse and field hockey for the Cavaliers.