SELINSGROVE, Pa. - Senior defender Erin Powell was named the Middle Atlantic Conference Most Valuable Player in women's lacrosse to highlight five Crusaders selected to the conference All-Star team, the league announced Thursday.
Powell (Claymont, Del./Ursuline Academy), who also earned MAC first-team All-Star honors for the third time in her career, became the first Susquehanna player named MAC Most Valuable Player in program history.
She was joined on the first team by junior attack Krista O'Brien (Sykesville, Md./Liberty H.S.) and sophomore goalkeeper Giulia Umile (Blue Bell, Pa./Gwynedd-Mercy Academy) while junior attack Katie Sonnefeld (Monkton, Md./Hereford H.S.) and freshman defender Kristin Calabree (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern Regional H.S.) were chosen to the second team by the MAC's eight head coaches.
The quintet helped the Crusaders to their first regular-season MAC title in program history as Susquehanna finished 6-1 in the league and 12-5 overall before bowing to eight-time defending champion Drew 10-9 in triple overtime in the MAC championship game.
Powell started all 17 games on defense and led the team in caused turnovers (49) while ranking second on the squad in groundballs (84) and recording five assists. Her 2.88 caused turnovers per game tied her with Lycoming's Lauren Evangelist for the conference lead, while her 4.94 groundballs per game are third in the MAC.
Powell was part of a defense that ranks 16th in NCAA Division III in goals allowed per game (7.35 gapg) and kept its opponents under 10 goals in 11 of 17 games this season. For her career, Powell played in 60 games and scored 24 goals and 11 assists for 35 points while frequently matching up against the opponent's best offensive player.
O'Brien appeared in 16 of the team's 17 games and scored a school single-season record 51 goasl while leading the team in points (63), shots (121) and draw controls (40). She ranks fifth in the MAC in points per game at 3.94 and fourth in goals per game at 3.19.
O'Brien was named the MAC player of the week following a four-goal, one assist performance in a 16-6 win over King's and earlier in the season she tallied seven goals in a 11-10 overtime loss at Messiah, which was the third highest single-game total in school history.
In her three-year career, O'Brien already holds the school records for goals (129) and points (173) and is second in career assists with 44.
Umile played every minute of all 17 games in goal and made a school-record 221 saves for the season, including a single-game record 26 stops against Widener in a 6-4 overtime win on March 24. She currently ranks fifth in NCAA Division III in save percentage at .639 and is 11th in goals against average at 7.12.
After two seasons, Umile is the Susquehanna career leader in save percentage (.624) and goals against average (7.39) while her 411 saves are just 63 shy of the school record of 474 set from 1992 to 1995 by Maria Kuwani.
Sonnefeld started all 17 games and finished second on the team with 33 points on the strength of a team-high 20 assists, while her 24 draw controls were second on the team and her 80 groundballs and 18 caused turnovers were third on the Crusaders. She ranks fifth in the MAC in assists per game at 1.18 and fifth in groundballs per game at 4.71.
Sonnefeld's 20 assists were the fourth-most in team history and boost her three-year total to 39 helpers which ranks third on the Susquehanna career list. She also stands fifth on the career points list with 96 points in 49 career games.
Calabree stepped in as a freshman and was one of the leaders of the Crusader defense. She finished 12th in the MAC in caused turnovers per game with an average of 1.18 per contest, and added 52 groundballs and 10 draw controls. She held MAC goal and point champion Liz Baumbach scoreless in the Crusaders' 10-5 victory over the Lady Royals on March 22.
