Five Skyhawks Earn All-Region Honors

Rockville Centre, N.Y. - Five Skyhawks earned a spot on the 2008 IWLCA Division II North Region Team announced Friday.  Four Skyhawks, Liza Gross (Loudonville, N.Y./Shaker), Michelle Kelly (Mendham, N.J./West Morris Mendham), Kristin Darrell (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) and Jaclyn Craig (Rocky Point, N.Y./Rocky Point), earned first team honors while defender Kristyn Gramzow (Billerica, Mass./Billerica) claimed a spot on the second team.

Stonehill, who completed their ninth consecutive undefeated Conference schedule earlier this month, finished with the Northeast-10 regular season and tournament championship.  The Skyhawks' five all-regional athletes mark the most among the Northeast-10 members.  Stonehill's 2008 class ties Adelphi for the second most behind C.W. Post's six nominations.

Sophomores Gross and Craig each make their second appearance on the IWLCA Division II All-Region team.  Gross, an attacker, was fourth on the team with 41 goals and 10 assists for 51 total points.  She finished with 61 draw controls (3.59 per game), good for fourth in the Northeast-10. 

Craig, a defender, claimed 22 draw controls and controlled 22 ground balls.  Her and Gramzow, also two-time all-regional selection, anchored Stonehill's top-ranked defense that allowed only 110 tallies in 17 games. Their 6.48 goals-against average was nearly half of Southern N.H.'s 12.72 second-place mark.

Junior Kelly and senior Darrell combined for 120 of Stonehill's 280 markers. Darrell, a co-captain, finished with 53 goals and 13 assists for 66 total points.  Her five goals against Southern Conn. moved her into first place on the College's all-time leading scoring list.  Darrell graduated as one of only three Skyhawks to register over 300 career points.

Kelly's extraordinary year began with her being named to the prestigious 2008 Warrior Tewaarton Trophy Watch List.  She was named Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year after a career year, which included 62 goals, 29 assists and 91 total points.   She will enter her senior year fourth on Stonehill's all-time scoring list (165), tied for sixth on the all-time assists list (71), and fifth in total points (236).