ESU All-PSAC History (PDF)

EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University senior back Sydney McCarthy has been named the 2017 PSAC Field Hockey Defensive Athlete of the Year to lead six Warriors on the All-PSAC team, released Thursday.

McCarthy (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg), ESU's top scorer with 30 points (10 goals, 10 assists) and the anchor of a defense that has posted 10 shutouts, has led the Warriors to the PSAC semifinals and a match-up vs. Millersville on Friday at Shippensburg.

ESU (16-3) enters the weekend as the PSAC's No. 3 seed and posted a 5-0 win vs. Slippery Rock on Tuesday. The Warriors are No. 2 in the NFHCA Division II poll, and No. 1 in the NCAA DII Atlantic Region rankings which will set the NCAA Tournament field.

McCarthy has had a hand in 20 of ESU's 62 goals, while helping the Warriors allow just 17 goals through 19 games.

She is ESU's lone first team representative. The Warriors have two on the second team - senior midfielder Ashley Chioda and junior forward Bailey Quinn - and three on the third team - senior forward Melanie Shambaugh, junior back Amanda Crampton and senior goalkeeper Halle Frisco.

McCarthy is the only remaining starter from ESU's 2015 PSAC and NCAA DII championship team and gives ESU the PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Year for the second straight year. She replaced Emily Howell at center back, who was recognized in 2016.

McCarthy was a second team selection in the midfield last season. She was twice honored as the NFHCA DII Athlete of the Week early in the season, compiling six goals and seven assists through the first seven games.

She had the game-winning goal in double-overtime in a 2-1 win at Kutztown on October 25, and had a goal and an assist in Tuesday's first round win vs. Slippery Rock.

Defensively, ESU has 10 shutouts and has allowed just one goal in five other games.

Chioda (Dallastown, Pa./Dallastown) is in her second season as a starter as a defensive midfielder for the Warriors and earns second team status as a senior. She has started all but one of ESU's 39 games over the last two years, with the Warriors piling up a 113-33 goal differential and a 31-8 record.

Quinn (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) has 10 goals and one assist in her second season at ESU after transferring from Division I Old Dominion. She scored the overtime game-winner in a 3-2 victory vs. Bloomsburg on October 3, had three goals in a 4-0 win at Seton Hill 11 days later and scored the first goal in the PSAC first round win vs. Slippery Rock. Quinn had eight goals and two assists in 13 starts in 2016, and has 18 career goals and three assists.

Shambaugh (Shermans Dale, Pa./West Perry) leads ESU with 11 goals and has added two assists as a first-year starter ,garnering third team honors. She had both goals in a 2-0 win at Millersville in non-conference action on September 20 and scored the second goal in a 2-0 win vs. Shippensburg on September 6, also in non-league play. She entered the season with two career goals as a backup forward and midfielder.

Crampton (Washington, N.J./Warren Hills), ESU's left back, was also named to the third team. She has started all 19 games and has two goals and three assists, including the second goal in Tuesday's 5-0 win. She started four games as a sophomore while playing in 18 of ESU's 20 games before breaking into the lineup this year.

Frisco (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin), another first-year starter, is a third team choice after posting shutouts in 10 of ESU's first 19 games. She has a 0.818 save percentage, a 0.77 goals against average and has allowed just 14 goals in almost 1300 minutes. She has posted six solo shutouts and had her top game with eight saves in the 2-0 win vs. Shippensburg in the first week of the season. Frisco also had five saves in a 2-0 shutout vs. West Chester, and a season-high 12 in a 4-1 loss at Shippensburg.


Athlete of the Year - Emily Barnard, Shippensburg
Defensive Athlete of the Year - Sydney McCarthy, ESU
Freshman of the Year - Jazmin Petrantonio, Shippensburg
Coach of the Year - Brittany Hansrote, Mansfield


All-PSAC 1st Team
F - Emily Barnard, Shippensburg
F - Kaitlin Hatch, West Chester
F - Rachal Toppi, West Chester
F - Kyra Wozniak, Kutztown
M - Mackenzie Fuhrman, Kutztown
M - Mackenzie Mlkvy, West Chester
M - Jazmin Petrantonio, Shippensburg
M - Courtney Weaver, Millersville
B - Morgan Aldinger, Kutztown
B - Taylor Bracale, West Chester
B - Meredith Fagan, Millersville
B - Sydney McCarthy, ESU
GK - Chardonnay Hope, Kutztown

2nd Team
F - MacKenna Mahan, Bloomsburg
F - Aliza Mizak, Millersville
F - Mary Spisak, Shippensburg
F - Bailey Quinn, ESU
M - Ashley Chioda, ESU
M - Kailee Krupski, Slippery Rock
M - Geneka Mahan, Bloomsburg
M - Brooke Sheibley, Shippensburg
B - Mikayla Cheney, Shippensburg
B - Meghan Griffin, Mansfield
B - Kayla Mack, Slippery Rock
B - Tali Wehner, Bloomsburg
GK - Brittany Ryan, Mansfield

3rd Team
F - Erica Tarsi, Millersville
F - Nicolette Tomani, Mercyhurst
F - Melanie Shambaugh, ESU
F - Erica Tarsi, Millersville
M - Caitlin Kelly, West Chester
M - Courtney Konowal, Kutztown
M - Katie Lipski, Mansfield
M - Madelyn Mullen, IUP
B - Taylor Balser, Mercyhurst
B - Amanda Crampton, ESU
B - Caitie McNamara, West Chester
B - Emma Smiley, IUP
GK - Halle Frisco, ESU