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5/11/2006 Hickman, Cielak headline group of All-Conference Honorees Five members of the Vanderbilt lacrosse team earned All-American Lacrosse Conference honors, league officials announced Thursday. Senior Kate Hickman and freshman Sasha Cielak earned first-team recognition, while junior Molly Frew, sophomore Margie Curran and freshman Cara Giordano were named to the second team. Hickman ended her Vanderbilt career third on the school’s all-time goals and points charts. In 2006, she scored more than 40 goals for the third consecutive season. Cielak, a third-team All-America honoree a year ago, routinely took the opponent’s top scorer out of the game as Vanderbilt’s defensive stopper. She led the team in ground balls and caused turnovers. Another mainstay on the Commodore defense, Frew was second on the team in both caused turnovers and ground balls. Named the squad’s only junior captain by her teammates, Frew was the vocal leader of the VU defense. Vanderbilt’s other two honorees are both products of Moorestown High (N.J.), where Head Coach Cathy Swezey played prep lacrosse and field hockey. Curran was first on the team in assists and second in goals and points. In two years at Vanderbilt, Curran has already reached 100 career points. Giordano was the only freshman to start all 16 games for Vanderbilt. She scored 14 goals, including a dramatic game-winner as time expired in an April match against league-rival Ohio State. View the complete release from the American Lacrosse Conference below: Northwestern’s Kristen Kjellman Repeats ALC Player of the Year Wildcats’ frosh Frank and coach Amonte-Hiller recognized; Ohio’s Heup is Goalie of the Year The American Lacrosse Conference has named Northwestern’s Kristen Kjellman as the Conference Player of the Year, as selected by a vote of the conference’s head coaches. Kjellman repeats her honor from last year, during which she led the Wildcats to their first-ever national title. Her mentor Kelly Amonte Hiller was named the Coach of the Year by her peers for the third consecutive year, and teammate Meredith Frank was named the Rookie of the Year. Ohio’s Jen Heup earned Goalie of the Year honors. Kjellman helped the Wildcats to an undefeated conference season and the number-one ranking at the end of the regular season as well as the No. 4 seed in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. At the end of the regular season, Kjellman ranked fourth in the nation in draw controls and seventh in the nation in scoring and appears among the top three in the conference in scoring, goals, draw controls and ground balls and is fifth in assists per game. She earned ALC Player of the Week honors once this season. Frank was one of the most prolific scorers in the nation this year among freshmen, and was a major contributor to the Wildcats all over the field, ranking in the top-10 in the conference in assists, draw controls, and caused turnovers. Heup led the conference in ground balls per game and ranked thirteenth in the nation in save percentage. Amonte Hiller, who earned the ALC Coach of the Year honor in 2004 and 2005, earned the honor for a third consecutive year after leading the ‘Cats to an undefeated regular conference season and the #1 ranking in the nation. In 2005 she led the Wildcats to their first national title and became just the second person in Division I history to win a title as a player, assistant coach and head coach. The Wildcats led all teams with four first-team selections and had six All-Conference selections overall. Joining Kjellman on the first team are teammates Sarah Albrecht, Lindsay Munday and Lindsey Finocchario. Vanderbilt had five student-athletes honored, including Kate Hickman and Sasha Cielak on the first team. Johns Hopkins and Penn State both had four honorees each, two on the first team and two on the second team. Jessi Lieb and Renee Cipro reprsented the Nittany Lions and Mary Key and Kadie Stamper represented the Blue Jays. Jen Heup was Ohio’s honoree and KC Carter represented the Buckeyes of Ohio State. Player of the Year: Kristen Kjellman, Northwestern ALC First Team Sarah Albrecht, Northwestern ALC Second Team Lauren Bryan, Penn State |
