GSC Announces 2019 Women's Lacrosse All-Conference Awards
2019 WOMEN'S LACROSSE ALL-GSC TEAM
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Gulf South Conference has announced its 2019 women’s lacrosse all-conference awards, as voted on by the league’s coaches. Alabama Huntsville took home three major awards, as
Nicole Federovitch has been named the Player of the Year,
Natalie Pachinger has been named Defensive Player of the Year, and
Katie Gerber has earned Freshman of the Year honors.
Erika Cross from Young Harris shares Player of the Year accolades with Federovitch, while
Samantha Hurley has been named the Coach of the Year.
This is the third season in a row Federovitch has been named the top player in the conference after leading the GSC in goals per game. The native of Barnegat, N.J. is currently ranked seventh in all of Division II with 98 points. She earned GSC Player of the Week honors a league-best six times during the 2019 campaign and led her Chargers to a share of the regular season championship with Young Harris. The senior will leave the GSC as the league's all-time leader in goals and points.
Federovitch and YHC's
Hannah Sacristan were named all-conference for the fourth straight season, earning the postseason honor in each season the GSC has sponsored women's lacrosse.
Two-time All-GSC performer Cross also earned the distinction of Player of the Year after leading the conference in assists on the season. She had 24 goals and 46 assists and started in all 16 matches for the top-seeded Mountain Lions during the regular season. The senior midfielder also recorded a team-leading 41 ground balls and 44 draw control wins.
Pachinger, who missed last season with an injury, made a major impact defensively for the Chargers in 2019, as they led the GSC in goals against, allowing only 7.29 per game as a team. She also led the conference in two individual categories, collecting 64 grounds balls and causing 41 turnovers this year.
Gerber, a nine-time GSC Freshman of the Week honoree, has proved to be a key player for the 14-3 Chargers in all facets of the game. She recorded 42 goals, 15 assists, 62 draw controls and picked up 52 grounds balls. She's the top freshman in the league in goals, assists, and ground balls and was named All-GSC in addition to this honor.
Hurley has now been named the GSC Coach of the Year in both of her seasons at Young Harris. Hurley has led the Mountain Lions to a 15-1 GSC record during her career, winning at least a share of the conference regular season title the last two seasons. YHC also produced a league-best six all-conference selections this year and will host this weekend's GSC Women's Lacrosse Championship.
The entire list of all-conference honorees can be found in the link at the top of the story.