PSAC Championships information (Friday/Saturday) l
ESU WSOC All-PSAC History (PDF)EAST STROUDSBURG - Sophomore midfielder
Shea Neal and senior back
Lexie Peveraro were named to the first team, leading a PSAC-high six all-conference selections, and East Stroudsburg University head coach
Rob Berkowitz was named PSAC Coach of the Year as the conference announced its women's soccer postseason honors on Wednesday.
ESU (18-1), which won its first-ever PSAC regular season championship and is in the midst of a school-record 18-game winning streak, will host the PSAC semifinals and finals this weekend at Eiler-Martin Stadium.
Berkowitz is recognized as the PSAC Coach of the Year for the second time in his eight years at ESU. He also earned PSAC East honors in his first season at ESU in 2007 (the conference has played a single-division format the last five years).
The Warriors went 15-1 in PSAC games, falling 1-0 to Kutztown in their season opener before rattling off 15 straight conference wins, capped by a pair of 1-0 wins over Slippery Rock (defending regional champion) and California (defending PSAC champion) last weekend.
ESU advanced to the PSAC semifinals for the fourth time in eight years under Berkowitz with a 5-0 win over IUP in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. ESU will face California on Friday at 1 p.m., followed by West Chester vs. Kutztown at 3:30 p.m. The championship game is Saturday at 6 p.m.
Neal and Peveraro are joined on the All-PSAC team by senior forward
Courtney Keller, sophomore back
Laurel Neira and freshman goalkeeper
Jules Harris on the 2nd team, and freshman back
Amanda Vojta on the 3rd team.
ESU's six selections are tied for the most in school history. The Warriors also had six players picked in 1994 and 1997, and won the conference championship both seasons.
Harris and Vojta give ESU two of the four freshmen selected across the conference. Harris was the only freshman named to the second team.
The PSAC's four semifinalists combined for nine of the 13 first-team selections and 16 of the 39 total all-conference picks. Twelve of the 13 first-team selections played on teams that qualified for the PSAC Tournament.
Neal (Barto, Pa./Christopher Dock) is a first team selection for the second straight season to start her career at ESU. ESU's only returning All-PSAC pick entering the year, she has six goals and two assists, including a hat trick in ESU's 3-0 win over IUP in the regular season. She was the team's top scorer as a freshman with six goals and two assists.
She is the eighth ESU player to earn multiple first-team awards in 21 years of PSAC women's soccer. She is the fourth to do it as a freshman and sophomore, joining four-time selections forward Terri Meierhofer (1994-97), forward Justina Woolf (1997-98, 2000-01) and back Brittany Staub (2004-07).
Peveraro (New Hyde Park, N.Y./New Hyde Park) earned first team honors as a fourth-year starter at left back for the Warriors. She leads all current Warriors with 73 career starts and is a key part of the PSAC's top scoring offense (2.74 gpg) and scoring defense (0.47 gaa) with her runs up and down the left sideline.
Keller (Thomasville, Pa./Spring Grove) is also a first-time All-PSAC selection as a senior, landing a spot on the second team. She has six goals and four assists, including setting up ESU's first goal in Tuesday's quarterfinal win over IUP. A three-year starter, Keller has 11 career goals and seven assists as a left-footed forward and midfielder.
Neira (Owego, N.Y./Owego Free Academy) is recognized with a second team slot as a sophomore, holding down ESU's back line at center back. She also came forward to score six goals on corner kicks and headed in game-winning goals in OT vs. Bloomsburg and with 1:37 left against Seton Hill.
Harris (Orangeburg, N.Y./Tappan Zee) leads the PSAC in goals against average (0.47) and save percentage (0.896) as a freshman, starting 16 games and setting an ESU single-season record with nine shutouts (eight solo). She has gone 365:53 without allowing a goal since Oct. 22, including three straight shutouts against Slippery Rock, California and IUP.
Vojta (Monroe, N.Y./Washingtonville), a third team pick as a freshman, leads the PSAC in assists (0.79 per game) and has tied ESU's school record with 15 assists. Along with her work at right back, she has scored two goals directly off corner kicks and added 12 assists off corner kicks, a key part of ESU's PSAC-leading attack.
ESU has had 18 players combine for 31 All-PSAC selections in eight years under Berkowitz, who has a career record of 87-51-16 (.617) since 2007. He has guided the Warriors to PSAC semifinal appearances in 2007, 2008, 2012 and 2014 and also advanced to the PSAC Tournament in 2009.
Berkowitz also completed his fourth year as head coach of ESU's men's soccer team this fall, taking over the program after the retirement of Hall of Fame coach
Jerry Sheska following the 2010 season.
He is the third coach to be named PSAC Women's Coach of the Year while also coaching their school's men's team, along with Shippensburg's Guy Furfaro (2002) and Sheska (1994).
All-PSAC 1st teamF - Mani Bruecker, Gannon
F - Sam Costello, Kutztown
F - Chelsea Crockett, California
F - Brittney Kuhns, IUP
M - Erin Hogan, California
M - Diana Malanga, Kutztown
M - Shea Neal, ESUM - Carly Yost, West Chester
B - Sam Busillo, Kutztown
B - Becca Costello, Edinboro
B - Lexie Peveraro, ESUB - Erika Schrock, West Chester
GK - Laurel Saussol, Clarion
Athlete of the Year - Sam Costello, Kutztown
Defensive Athlete of the Year - Becca Costello, Edinboro
Freshman of the Year - Victoria Crawford, IUP
Coach of the Year - Rob Berkowitz, ESU 2nd teamF - Liz Debo, Edinboro
F - Andrea Felix, Slippery Rock
F - Courtney Keller, ESUF - Kara Parvel, West Chester
M - Ali Brosky, Slippery Rock
M - Jansen Hartmann, Edinboro
M - Kelsey Mattola, Millersville
M - Justine Rodrigues, Gannon
B - Olivia Augustyniak, Gannon
B - Chrissy Hollan, Bloomsburg
B - Laurel Neira, ESUB - Megan Politowski, California
GK - Jules Harris, ESU 3rd teamF - Victoria Crawford, IUP
F - Jenna Fisher, Bloomsburg
F - Janelle McCann, California
F - Lauren Testa, Mercyhurst
M - Caitlin Binder, Slippery Rock
M - Allison Harbart, Slippery Rock
M - Alex McIntosh, Seton Hill
M - Janine Wong, Mercyhurst
B - Rachel Friend, Shippensburg
B - Amanda Vojta, ESUB - Erika Wisniewski, Seton Hill
B - Rachel Yenney, Bloomsburg
GK - Meghan Kelly, Edinboro
Most selections, team6 - ESU (2 first, 3 second, 1 third)
4 - California (2 first, 1 second, 1 third)
4 - Edinboro (1 first, 2 second, 1 third)
4 - Slippery Rock (2 second, 2 third)
