The South Atlantic Conference Announces Women's Lacrosse Annual Awards

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSac.com) – Coker attacker Faith Kent was voted the 2017 South Atlantic Conference Women's Lacrosse Player of the Year, while Gianna Pezzulo from Catawba was voted the League's Freshman of the Year.  In addition, Coker mentor Kate Keagins was tabbed the Coach of the Year, the League announced today.

Kent, a sophomore from Winter Springs, Fla., currently ranks No. 6 in Division II with a program-record 44 assists this season.  She added 49 goals on the season to rank No. 3 in the country and set the Coker standard with 95 total points.  Her 5.53 points per outing ranked No. 4 in the country.  Kent scored on 55 percent of the shots she took, including five free position goals.  She recorded 35 draw controls on the year to go along with 27 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers.  Kent connected on multiple goals in 13 matches this season and dished out multiple assists in 13 contests.  She also posted 11 matches with multiple goals and multiple assists.

Pezzulo, an attacker from Henniker, N.H., scored 39 goals for the Catawba Indians this season.  She ranked fourth in the South Atlantic Conference with 22 assists and was seventh in the League with 61 points.  Pezzulo controlled 44 draws on the year as she scooped up 21 ground balls.  She scored in double-digits in 14 games for the Catawba Indians, including six games with three-or-more goals.  Against Charleston on March 6, Pezzulo found the back of the net five times and handed out four assists to finish with nine points in the win.

Keagins earns her first career Coach of the Year honor as the Cobras nailed down the third seed in the South Atlantic Conference tournament with a 6-2 league record. The Cobras are second in the League in goals scored with 247, second in the SAC in goals per game with 14.53 and they lead the Conference in caused turnovers with 200. Nationally, the Cobras rank 15th as they caused 11.47 turnovers per game. They are also 22nd in the nation putting up 20.29 points per game. Coker is in the top-30 nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense, scoring 14.53 goals per game (21st) and allowing just 8.76 goals per game (22nd).

Wingate's Brittany Andrews and Shannon O'Neal joined Kent on the list of first team attackers as Hanna Scott from Queens rounded out the first-team attackers.  The South Atlantic Conference first team midfielders consisted of Kelly Dowd and Alexandra Bruder of Queens, Marabeth Durden from Coker and Tusulum's Madison Malone.

Defensively, Queens had a pair of defenders earn first team honors in Cammy Case and Aarika Kaester, while Kaitlyn Kimball from Coker and Hannah Scott from Catawba finished up the list of first team defender honorees.  Arion Pierre from Wingate was voted the first team goalkeeper.

2017 South Atlantic Conference Women's Lacrosse Yearly Honors

First Team
A – Faith Kent, Coker
A – Brittany Andrews, Wingate
A – Hanna Scott, Queens
A – Shannon O'Neal, Wingate
MF – Kelly Dowd, Queens
MF – Marabeth Durden, Coker
MF – Alexandra Bruder, Queens
MF – Madison Malone, Tusculum
D – Cammy Case, Queens
D – Kaitlyn Kimball, Coker
D – Aarika Kaester, Queens
D – Hannah Scott, Catawba
GK – Arion Pierre, Wingate

Honorable Mention
A – Abigail Paulus, Queens
A – Savannah Elliott, Tusculum
A – Gabby Sousa, Lenoir-Rhyne
A – Claudia Jenkins, Coker
MF – Casey Kelly, Lincoln Memorial
MF – Rachel Elmore, Lenoir-Rhyne
D – Becky Frost, Catawba
D – Juliette Cusano, Tusculum
D – Gracie Wolfman, Catawba
D – Melissa Bechtel, Lenoir-Rhyne
GK – Ines Flueck, Lenoir-Rhyne

Player of the Year
Faith Kent, Coker

Freshman of the Year
Gianna Pezzulo, Catawba

Coach of the Year
Kate Keagins, Coker

Statistical Champions
Draw Controls per Game – Madison Malone, Tusculum (4.20)
Ground Balls per Game – Shannon Novak, Lincoln Memorial (3.86)
Assists per Game – Madison Malone, Tusculum (2.93)
Saves per Game – Shelby Arsenault, Brevard (12.13)
Goals-Against Average – Chase Brokaw, Queens (7.35)
Save Percentage – Arion Pierre, Wingate (.506)
Goals per Game – Brittany Andrews, Wingate (4.07)
Caused Turnovers per Game – Kaitlyn Kimball, Coker (3.00)
Points per Game – Faith Kent, Coker (5.38)

Team Points per Game – Queens (21.38)
Team Caused Turnovers per Game – Queens (11.75)
Team Ground Balls per Game – Catawba (23.06)
Team Scoring Offense – Queens (14.75)
Team Scoring Defense – Queens (7.56)
Team Scoring Margin – Queens (7.19)
Team Draw Controls per Game – Coker (13.94)