ESU Lacrosse Postseason Honors (PDF)

EAST STROUDSBURG - Senior midfielder Chessie Rahmer repeated on the first team and leads East Stroudsburg University's six IWLCA All-Atlantic Region selections, including five on the first team, released Friday afternoon as the Warriors were completing a historic 2018 women's lacrosse season in the national semifinals in Tampa, Fla.

ESU (15-4), which won its first-ever Atlantic Region title and advanced to the DII Final Four for the first time in program history, fell 20-14 to Florida Southern, which reached its third straight national championship game and won the 2016 national title.

Rahmer is joined on the first team by junior midfielder Emma Rufolo, sophomore midfielder Hana Cicerelle, freshman attack Krista Mitarotonda and freshman defender Kayleigh Pokrivka. Sophomore goalkeeper Tatyana Petteway was on the second team.

Petteway was named to the first team, along with Rahmer, and Rufolo was on the second team last year as the Warriors (17-3) made their first NCAA Tournament appearance. This year's team earned the first two NCAA postseason wins in program history.

ESU's five first-team selections are the most in the region, and the six overall selections are tied with West Chester, which placed three each on both the first and second teams after posting an unbeaten 19-0 record before ESU's 16-14 win in the Atlantic Region championship game on May 12.

The PSAC captured 29 of the 32 selections, including all 16 on the first team, in the first year under the NCAA's new four-region setup. ESU, West Chester and Mercyhurst - the region's three NCAA Tournament qualifiers - combined for 11 of the first-team spots and 17 overall.

ESU has had nine players combine for 12 All-Region selections, including seven on the first team, under third-year head coach Xeni Barakos-Yoder, who has led the Warriors to a 44-12 record since 2016. ESU had five players combine for eight selections (three first-team) in the previous 12 seasons.

Rahmer (Salfordville, Pa./Souderton), a returning IWLCA All-America third team selection, leads ESU's entrants with a repeat spot on the first team. She had 50 goals and six assists for 56 points while ranking second on the Warriors in draw controls (65) and caused turnovers (37) and third in ground balls (56).

She finished her career with 147 goals, fourth-most in school history, and 175 points, ranking eighth. She had 50 goals and 10 assists and ranked second on the Warriors in draw controls, caused turnovers and ground balls on the 2017 team.

This season, she had five goals, an assist and seven draw controls in an early-season 11-10 win vs. Millersville, and later posted seven straight games with at least three goals - ESU's best stretch in 15 years. She had four goals and two assists in a 19-14 regular season win vs. Mercyhurst, and five goals in a dominant 17-7 win at No. 7 LIU Post to finish the regular season and four goals vs. West Chester in the regional championship game. She had three goals with five caused turnovers, six ground balls and six draw controls in a 19-11 win at Shippensburg.

Rufolo (Woodstock, Md./Chapelgate Christian Academy), second team All-Region last year, moves up to first team this spring - flipping her spots on the All-PSAC team, when she was first team in 2017 and second team in 2018. Last year's PSAC Athlete of the Year in her first season at ESU after transferring from Division I Gardner-Webb, Rufolo had another outstanding season highlighted by the game-winning goal with 32 seconds left in the Warriors' 12-11 win vs. Mercyhurst in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Rufolo had 35 goals and 11 assists this season while leading ESU in ground balls (68) and ranking second in caused turnovers (32) and draw controls (36). She had 34 goals, 17 assists and led the Warriors in all three categories as a sophomore. She will enter her final season at ESU with 69 career goals and 28 assists.

Cicerelle (Broadway, N.J./Warren Hills), named third team All-PSAC, jumped to first team All-Region with a standout sophomore season. She had 46 goals and 23 assists for 69 points, second on the team, and ranked third in both goals and assists. She also had 15 caused turnovers, 32 ground balls and four caused turnovers. She improved on a 26-goal, 13-assist season on last year's PSAC championship team and has 72 goals and 36 assists for 108 points in her first two seasons.

Her top games this season included three goals and four assists in the 16-14 win vs. West Chester in the regional championship game. She also had four goals and two assists the 17-7 win at No. 7 LIU Post in the final game of the regular season, four goals and four assists in a 19-14 win vs. Mercyhurst in the regular season and five goals and an assist in a 17-12 win vs. Lock Haven.

Mitarotonda (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Knolls) had one of the top seasons by a freshman in PSAC history to earn first team status at attack. She scored 67 goals, second-most by a PSAC freshman and the second-most goals by any player in school history. She added nine assists for a team-high 76 points, and also led ESU with 80 draw controls. She was first team All-PSAC and the PSAC Freshman of the Year.

She had 11 games with at least three goals, including four games with six goals - most recently the national semifinal game vs. Florida Southern on Friday. She scored at least two goals in each of ESU's final 17 games. She scored six goals in the 19-14 regular season win vs. Mercyhurst, and six goals and two assists for a season-high eight points in a 19-11 win vs. Shippensburg.

Pokrivka (York, Pa./York Catholic) also earns first team All-Region honors in her first season for the Warriors. She started all 18 games at defender and ranked fifth in DII in caused turnovers entering this weekend's Final Four. She led ESU with 49 caused turnovers and ranked second with 62 ground balls, while adding nine draw controls - including eight in the last five games. She had seven caused turnovers and seven ground balls in a 9-7 win at Slippery Rock, four caused turnovers and seven ground balls in a 17-5 win at Bloomsburg, and three caused turnovers, four ground balls and two draw controls vs. West Chester in the regional final.

Petteway (Nanuet, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) was IWLCA All-America third team as a freshman, and was named All-PSAC third team this year before moving up to the second team on the All-Region squad.

She entered the NCAA Final Four ranked fifth in DII in save percentage and finished with a .516 mark after making 15 saves vs. Florida Southern. She had 16 saves in the regional final victory vs. West Chester, and had several big games in the regular season, including nine saves (three goals allowed) in a 9-7 win at Slippery Rock, 18 saves in a 14-7 win at Gannon and 15 in a 19-14 win vs. Mercyhurst in the regular season.

Petteway was fourth in DII in save percentage (.532) as a freshman. She has a 29-6 career record in her first two seasons for the Warriors.


IWLCA All-Atlantic Region
Kristen Anderson, Mercyhurst, Sr., M
Emily Bitka, Slippery Rock, Sr., GK
Sami Barnett, West Chester, Jr., M
Ally Burrows, IUP, Jr. A
Hana Cicerelle, ESU, So. M
Sabrina Fusco, Millersville, Sr., A
Valerie Hertz, Shippensburg, Jr., D
Taylor Izzo, Mercyhurst, Sr., A
Kira Kolb, Mercyhurst, So., D
Krista Mitarotonda, ESU, Fr., A
Alex O'Herrick, Lock Haven, Sr., M
Kayleigh Pokrivka, ESU, Fr., D
Chessie Rahmer, ESU, Sr., M
Molly Reinhart, West Chester, So., D
Emma Rufolo, ESU, Jr., M
Maggie Stella, West Chester, Jr., M

2nd Team
Tatum Altman, West Chester, So., A
Kristen Butzner, Millersville, Sr., A
Katie Costanza, Lock Haven, Sr., A
Samantha Fernandez, Georgian Court, Jr., A
Julia Galantich, Chestnut Hill, Sr., A
Mollie Gallagher, IUP, Jr., D
Sarah Gebre, West Chester, Sr., D
Adriana Greco, West Chester, Sr., D
Hayley Killian, Lock Haven, Sr., A
Leilani King, Gannon, Sr., M
Kaley Malampy, Chestnut Hill, Jr., D
Tatyana Petteway, ESU, So., GK
MacKenzie Shanahan, Mercyhurst, So., D
Rachel Shaw, Slippery Rock, Fr., D
Angelina Simon, Mercyhurst, Jr., M
Tia Torchia, Slippery Rock, Sr., M