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ROCHESTER, NY - Senior goalkeeper
Kelsey Evans (Carlisle, PA/Cumberland Valley) was named the Empire 8 Goalkeeper of the Year for the third straight season, as the conference announced its 2009 all-conference honors on Thursday. Senior defender
Jerica Young (Jay, NY/Northwood School) and junior midfielder
Ashley Pezze (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland) were All-Empire 8 first team selections, while junior
Danielle Previ (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) was a second team selection and junior
Allyson Pisher (Rochester, NY/Holley) earned honorable mention accolades.
Evans has won the Goalkeeper of the Year honor each of the three seasons it has been awarded and is a four-time all-conference goalie after making the second team in her first year. Evans enters the Empire 8 Women’s Lacrosse Championship ranked second in Division III in save percentage (.584), 10th in saves (184), and 13th in goals against average (8.43 GAA). She leads the Empire 8 in all three categories and holds every RIT goalkeeping record.
Young, an All-Empire 8 first team selection in 2008, is enjoying another tremendous season for the Tigers. She is second on the squad with 44 ground balls and 26 caused turnovers. Young, a co-captain, is second all-time at RIT with 181 career ground balls and seventh with 68 draw controls. She is the first Tiger non-goalkeeper to earn All-Empire 8 first team honors in consecutive seasons.
Pezze, an honorable mention selection last season, leads the Tigers in goals (34), points (42), free-position goals (9), ground balls (69), draw controls (46) and caused turnovers (29). The 46 draw controls are a single-season RIT record. In just two seasons with RIT, Pezze is already sixth on the all-time draw control list with 69 and can move into the top-10 in ground balls by the end of the season.
Previ, a midfielder, is second on the team with 33 draw controls, 33 goals and 40 points this season. She needs just one more point to become the eighth member of the RIT women's lacrosse program with 100 for her career. Previ is fifth all-time at RIT with 78 draw controls and has 81 career goals.
Pisher, a midfielder/defender, has enjoyed success at both ends of the field, chipping in with 15 goals and 19 points, while contributing 38 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers. She has helped key RIT's strong transition game and is a main reason the Tigers have allowed just 8.81 goals per game this season.
Senior defender
Cecilia Enestrom (Medicine Hat, Alberta/McCoy), who played in her first season of lacrosse after three succesful years with the volleyball team, was RIT respresentative as the Empire 8 Sportsperson of the Year.
One member of each team was named that institution’s representative on the 2009 Women’s Lacrosse Sportswoman of the Year Team. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete’s experience in conjunction with an institution’s educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportswomen.
The Tigers (12-4) travel to Stevens to compete in the 2009 Empire 8 Tournament. RIT, the No. 2 seed, will play No. 3 Nazareth in the second semifinal on Saturday at 2 p.m. If RIT wins, they will play for the 2009 Empire 8 Championship on Sunday at 12 p.m.