All-PSAC History (PDF)  l  PSAC Final 4 preview

EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University, which claimed its first PSAC women's lacrosse regular season title in program history entering this weekend's conference tournament at Whitenight Field, earned all three major awards and produced a total of eight all-conference selections as All-PSAC teams were released on Thursday.

Sophomore midfielder Emma Rufolo was named PSAC Athlete of the Year, goalkeeper Tatyana Petteway was named Freshman of the Year and head coach Xeni Barakos was named Coach of the Year for the second straight season.

Rufolo and Petteway are joined by junior midfielder Chessie Rahmer on the first team. Five Warriors - senior attack Lauren Green, sophomore attack TJ Jefferis, senior midfielder Emily Fitzsimmons and senior defenders Bethany Cunningham and Kerry Mulcahy - were all named to the third team.

ESU's eight All-PSAC selections are the conference's most since going to a single-division format with three all-conference teams prior to the 2011 season.

All eight are first-time All-PSAC honorees. The Warriors lost three first team selections - attack Lauren Nunes, defender Caitlyn O'Connell and goalkeeper Jessica Maxwell - from last year's team and were picked fifth in the PSAC preseason poll.

ESU's four seniors - Cunningham, Fitzsimmons, Green and Mulcahy - were all selected to the third team.

ESU (15-2, 11-1), which has won 10 straight games, hosts IUP in the PSAC semifinals on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Rufolo, a transfer from Division I Gardner-Webb, is ESU's third PSAC Athlete of the Year selection, joining attack Molly O'Hara (2011) and attack Kristin Restivo (2000).

Petteway is the fourth Warrior to be named Freshman of the Year, along with defender Leah Quigley (2002), Restivo (1997) and attack Mary Cahill (1994).

ESU is the second school in four years to sweep all three major awards, along with IUP (2013). Lock Haven took all three PSAC West awards in 2009 under a two-division format. They are the only schools to capture all three awards since at least 1994.

Additionally, the Warriors are just the third ESU team to claim the PSAC's Athlete, Freshman and Coach of the Year in the same season, joining the 1997 PSAC champion women's soccer team (Terri Meierhofer, Justina Woolf and Derek Arneaud) and the 1995 PSAC champion women's basketball team (Stacy Perryman, Jill Bittner and Rose Haller).

Barakos has been named PSAC Coach of the Year in both of her first two seasons. She is the first PSAC coach since at least 1994 to earn the award in consecutive years in a single-division format (Bloomsburg's Leah Carr and Lock Haven's Kristen Selvage were named East and West coach of the year, respectively, in both 2009 and 2010).

Barakos was an All-PSAC third team selection at defender as a senior on ESU's 2011 team that reached the PSAC semifinals, its most recent PSAC Tournament appearance prior to this spring.

ESU has set school records for wins in both of the last two years, going 12-5 in 2016 and completing a 15-2 regular season this spring. Five of ESU's wins during its 10-game winning streak are against nationally-ranked teams.

The Warriors are ranked No. 13 in this week's IWLCA Division II poll entering the postseason.

Along with its first-ever PSAC regular season championship, the Warriors are pursuing their first PSAC Tournament title and first NCAA DII Tournament appearance.

Rufolo (Woodstock, Md./Chaplegate Christian Academy) made an immediate impact for the Warriors in her first season after transferring from Gardner-Webb, culminating with her selection as PSAC Athlete of the Year.

She ranks second on the Warriors in goals (31), third in assists (14) and fourth in points (45) while leading the team in caused turnovers (37), ground balls (54) and draw controls (58). She is one of two players in the PSAC to rank in the top 10 in all three categories.

Rufolo had a season-high four goals in a 12-11 win at nationally-ranked Seton Hill, the fourth of ESU's 10 straight wins. She had 11 draw controls, along with a goal and two assists, in a 17-12 win at nationally-ranked West Chester, two goals and two assists in a 16-10 win vs. then-No. 10 Mercyhurst and steadily strong performances in nearly every game this spring.

Rahmer (Salfordville, Pa./Souderton) is ESU's leader in goals (44) and points (54) while ranking second behind Rufolo in caused turnovers (33), ground balls (52) and draw controls (44). She has three or more goals in nine games, including five of the last six, and had four goals and an assist in both wins last week against West Chester and IUP. She scored five goals vs. Mercyhurst.

Rahmer surpassed the 100-point mark this season as a junior, entering the PSAC Tournament with 91 career goals and 22 assists.

Led by Rufolo and Rahmer in the midfield, ESU leads the PSAC in caused turnovers per game (11.8) and is second in ground balls (23.1).

Petteway (Nanuet, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) leads DII in save percentage (.557) and also leads the PSAC in saves per game (11.1), playing in 15 games and making 14 starts. She has posted a .500 or better save percentage in 10 of her 14 starts while holding opponents to 29-for-105 on free position shots. She had her standout game with 22 saves in the 16-10 win vs. Mercyhurst on April 15, after making 14 saves in a 10-7 win at ranked Lock Haven 11 days earlier.

She is the first freshman goalkeeper to earn first team All-PSAC honors in a single-division format since Bloomsburg's Yshonda Wisher in 1999.

Green (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) is second on the Warriors in points (53), with 23 goals and 30 assists, and currently ranks tied for third in school history in single-season assists. She reached the 100-point mark midway through the year, and has 136 career points (92 goals, 44 assists) as a four-year starter. Her top assist games came against two of the top teams in the conference, with one goal and seven assists in the 16-10 win vs. Mercyhurst and one goal and five assists in ESU's 16-8 win vs. IUP.

Jefferis (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) is tied for second on the Warriors in goals (31), second in assists (16) and third in points (47), following up a freshman season which included 26 goals and eight assists. She has had at least three points in 10 of ESU's 17 games, including seven of its 11 PSAC games.

Fitzsimmons (East Meadow, N.Y./East Meadow) gives the Warriors a third All-PSAC midfielder, contributing 29 goals, 10 assists, 15 caused turnovers, 26 ground balls and 30 draw controls. A two-year starter in the midfield, she has 44 goals and 15 assists in that stretch after serving as ESU's emergency starting goalkeeper in 11 games as a sophomore. She has scored in 15 of 17 games this season, and has 13 goals and five assists in the last four games vs. nationally-ranked teams. She poured in three goals and three assists in last week's win at West Chester.

ESU's attack has tied a school record with 232 goals this season, and five of ESU's school-record seven players with at least 20 goals and 30 points were named to the All-PSAC team as part of a balanced attack.

The Warriors are second in the PSAC in goals per game (13.7) and first in shots per game (31.3) entering the PSAC Tournament.

Cunningham (Barnegat, N.J./Barnegat), a four-year starter at defender who leads current Warriors with 63 career starts, ranks third on the team in caused turnovers (21) and has added 25 ground balls. She had a career-high six caused turnovers and a season-high four ground balls in a 14-12 win vs. Shippensburg, and has been credited with more than 70 caused turnovers and 80 ground balls in her career.

Mulcahy (Stony Point, N.Y./Albertus Magnus), a three- year starter, has started all but one game at defender in the last three years and has 51 career starts. She has 14 caused turnovers, ranks third on the team with 33 ground balls and had two caused turnovers and three ground balls at West Chester last week. She has 41 caused turnovers and 80 ground balls in her four seasons at ESU.


PSAC Athlete of the Year - Emma Rufolo, East Stroudsburg
PSAC Freshman of the Year - Tatyana Petteway, East Stroudsburg
PSAC Coach of the Year - Xeni Barakos, East Stroudsburg


All-PSAC 1st Team
A - Ally Burrows, IUP
A - Dina Difelli, West Chester
A - Rachel Engler, Lock Haven
A - Ashley Pyle, West Chester
M - Leilani King, Gannon
M - Chessie Rahmer, East Stroudsburg
M - Emma Rufolo, East Stroudsburg
M - Carly Zimmerman, Mercyhurst
D - Hannah Bertolo, IUP
D - Valerie Hertz, Shippensburg
D - Danie Porath, Slippery Rock
D - Courtney O'Neill, Kutztown
GK - Tatyana Petteway, East Stroudsburg

2nd Team
A - Shannon Bissnette, Lock Haven
A - Charlotte Cunningham, Seton Hill
A - Sarah Gabriele, Kutztown
A - Taylor Izzo, Mercyhurst
M - Kristin Anderson, Mercyhurst
M - Brigid Kyne, Bloomsburg
M - Keagan Pontious, Seton Hill
M - Tia Torchia, Slippery Rock
D - Kira Kolb, Mercyhurst
D - Eden Olson, Seton Hill
D - Julia Stauffer, Bloomsburg
D - Natalie Sukanick, Millersville
GK - Emily Bitka, Slippery Rock

3rd Team
A - Sabrina Fusco, Millersville
A - Lauren Green, East Stroudsburg
A - TJ Jefferis, East Stroudsburg
A - Christine Palmeri, Seton Hill
M - Max Barkley, Shippensburg
M - Sami Barnett, West Chester
M - Emily Fitzsimmons, East Stroudsburg
M - Janelle Williams, Mercyhurst
D - Annemarie Cericola, Shippensburg
D - Bethany Cunningham, East Stroudsburg
D - Mollie Gallagher, IUP
D - Kerry Mulcahy, East Stroudsburg
D - Hannah Powell, Seton Hill
GK - Angela DiPasquale, Bloomsburg