ESU All-PSAC History (PDF)  l  PSAC Tournament Preview

EAST STROUDSBURG - Senior back Emily Howell was named PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Year to highlight five All-PSAC selections, including four on the first team, and head coach Sandy Miller was named PSAC Coach of the Year as the field hockey all-conference teams were released Wednesday afternoon.

ESU (15-3) hosts the PSAC semifinals and championship game this weekend at Whitenight Field. The No. 1-seed Warriors face No. 4 Millersville (15-4) on Friday at 2:30 p.m., preceded by No. 2 Shippensburg (16-2) vs. No. 3 West Chester (13-6) at 1 p.m.

The championship game will be played Sunday at 1 p.m.

Howell (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) and senior midfielder Desiraye Mack (Waymart, Pa./Honesdale) are repeat selections on the first team, with senior forward Robin Stevenson (Harare, Zimbabwe/Chisipite) and senior back Morgan Firestine (Bernville, Pa./Tulpehocken) also named to the first team.

Junior midfielder Sydney McCarthy (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg) was named to the second team.

Miller was named PSAC Coach of the Year for the third time in her career (1996, 2001, 2016) after leading ESU to the PSAC's No. 1 seed for the second straight season. Last fall, she guided the Warriors to their first-ever PSAC and NCAA Division II championships. This year's regular season title is the third in program history.

Howell, an NFHCA DII All-America first team selection and the PSAC Tournament MVP as a junior, anchors ESU's defense as the center back. The Warriors have allowed just 13 goals in 18 games, and more than one goal just once in their last 15 games. She has also contributed six goals and four assists as ESU's top target on penalty corners.

Mack, also named NFHCA DII All-America first team last year, has seven goals and two assists as ESU's center midfielder. She is a four-year starter, appearing in the lineup 79 times in her career. She was ESU's second-leading scorer with 12 goals as a junior.

Firestine earns her second All-PSAC honor after gaining a third team spot as a junior in 2015. She is in her second season as a full-time starter, starting 39 of ESU's 40 games over the last two years and 49 times in her career overall.

Stevenson, a first-year starter, is ESU's top scorer with 11 goals entering the PSAC Tournament. She scored a pair of important goals during the 10-game PSAC schedule, netting the game's only goal in a 1-0 win at Millersville on October 8, and the game-tying goal in an eventual 2-1 (2OT) win vs. Shippensburg on October 22.

McCarthy, a second-year starter in the midfield, has four goals and three assists while starting all 18 games. She had two goals and four assists while starting all 22 games as a sophomore on last year's PSAC and NCAA DII championship team, and was named the NCAA DII "Elite 90" Award recipient as the student-athlete with the top GPA at the championship site last fall.

Miller guided a team that lost six starters from last year's championship squad - including a pair of All-America selections - to a 15-3 regular season record after setting a school record for wins (19-3) in 2015.

Five seniors - Firestine, Howell, Mack, Stevenson and goalkeeper Danielle Ard - have been joined in the regular starting lineup by McCarthy, junior midfielder Ashley Chioda, junior midfielder Hannah Caplan, sophomore midfielder Paige Harrold, sophomore forward Bailey Quinn and sophomore back Ashley Ceschini.

The Warriors opened with a 3-2 record, then posted four straight wins including a 1-0 (OT) win at Shippensburg on September 17, before falling 3-1 at West Chester on September 28.

Since then, ESU is 8-0 while conceding just three goals and posting wins over PSAC Tournament teams Bloomsburg (2-0), Millersville (1-0), IUP (2-0) and Shippensburg (2-1 2OT).

Last year's NFHCA DII Coach of the Year, Miller was previously recognized as the PSAC's top coach in 1996 (16-5) and 2001 (16-7), when the Warriors were PSAC and NCAA DII runner-up.

Miller enters the postseason with a career record of 391-262-11 (.597) in her 33rd season. She is one of five coaches in DII history with at least 300 career victories.


Athlete of the Year - Rachal Toppi, West Chester
Defensive Athlete of the Year - Emily Howell, ESU
Coach of the Year - Sandy Miller, ESU
Freshman of the Year - Maya Gulliksen, West Chester

All-PSAC 1st Team
F - Aliza Mizak, Millersville
F - Sam Peters, Bloomsburg
F - Robin Stevenson, ESU
F - Rachal Toppi, West Chester
M - Desiraye Mack, ESU
M - Dayle Paustian, West Chester
M - Margaret Thorwart, Millersville
M - Courtney Ueberroth, Kutztown
B - Morgan Firestine, ESU
B - Taylor Fisher, Shippensburg
B - Emily Howell, ESU
B - Taylor Parker, Millersville
GK - Ally Mooney, Shippensburg

2nd Team
F - Emily Barnard, Shippensburg
F - Marnie Kusakavitch, West Chester
F - Megan McKay, Slippery Rock
F - Madison Stewart, Kutztown
M - Haley Fidler, IUP
M - Sydney McCarthy, ESU
M - Brooke Sheibley, Shippensburg
M - Tali Wehner, Bloomsburg
B - Maya Gulliksen, West Chester
B - Eleanor Kirby, Bloomsburg
B - Suzanne Muller, Shippensburg
B - Jessica Strohecker, Kutztown
GK - Lindsay Cassel, Bloomsburg

3rd Team
F - Katelyn Grazan, Shippensburg
F - Olivia Hershey, Millersville
F - Ali McKay, Bloomsburg
F - Selena West, IUP
M - Kylie Huffman, Shippensburg
M - Courtney Konowal, Kutztown
M - Katie Lipski, Mansfield
M - Courtney Weaver, Millersville
B - Alexis Carroll, Bloomsburg
B - Kayla Mack, Slippery Rock
B - Mackenzie Mlkvy, West Chester
B - Emma Smiley, IUP
GK - Samantha Rumler, Millersville