Nov. 2, 2006

2006 All-Conference Teams

PHILADELPHIA, PA - Richmond junior forward Shannon Taylor and junior goalkeeper Mary Jean Britt from Rhode Island have been named the 2006 Atlantic 10 Field Hockey Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, in voting conducted among the Conference's head coaches.

In that same vote, Lindsey Conrad of Richmond was tabbed Rookie of the Year and Rhode Island's Stacey Bean was named Coach of the Year. Additionally, Saint Joseph's junior goalkeeper Rebecca Cunfer was named Student-Athlete of the Year in voting by the Conference's sports information directors.

Taylor is the sixth-straight Spider to earn the Offensive Player of the Year honor and enters the Atlantic 10 Championship with 27 goals scored, eight assists and 62 total points on the season. She leads the Conference in goals, points and game-winning goals (5) and ranks tied for second nationally in points per game with 3.44 and is fourth nationally in goals per game at 1.50. A native of Midlothian, VA, the junior was a five-time A-10 Player of the Week and posted two four-goal games on the season.

Britt leads the Conference in saves (133), saves per game (7.82) and save percentage (.746). The junior goalkeeper from Swoyersville, PA, posted four shutouts on the year and was one of only two goalies on the year to hold 17th-ranked Richmond to one goal or less during the regular season.

Joining Taylor and Britt on the All-Conference first-team are Lindsey Conrad and Jodi Murphy of Richmond; Nicole Antonini of Saint Joseph's; La Salle's Allison Geiger; Lauren Gillespie, Cher King and Erin O'Brien of Massachusetts; Temple's Alli Lokey; and Kristin Lueders of Saint Louis.

The All-Conference second-team is comprised of Rhode Island's Jamie Adams and Jen Centenich; Ashley Bird, Mary Catherine Kinneman and Charise Young of Temple; Maureen Casserly, Lauren Luft and Katie Young of Saint Joseph's; La Salle's Amy Comstock; Ines Reimundes and Heather Wrublesky of Richmond; and Amy Wasserman of Saint Louis.

Conrad enjoyed an outstanding rookie season at Richmond. The forward from Wilkes-Barre, PA, was second on the nationally-ranked squad and in the Conference in goals with 27 and points with 40. She was named the A-10 Rookie of the Week five times in the last five weeks of the season and posted six multi-goal games in her first collegiate stint. The rookie ended the season with hat tricks in the last two contests.

Conrad is joined on the rookie team by teammates Megan Thompson and Jess Weidner; La Salle's Kelly Dougherty and Kara Harpel; Cher King and Sarah Williams of Massachusetts; Rhode Island's Jill Powers; Mandi Ruth and Charise Young of Temple; and Beth Wong of West Chester.

Cunfer is the Student-Athlete of the Year after earning 2005 Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference honors and National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) national academic honors last season. The junior goalkeeper from Manheim, PA, is an international relations major and a two-time member of the Saint Joseph's Athletics Directors honor roll and the A-10 Commissioner's honor roll. Cunfer started all 19 games in goal for SJU and posted the third lowest goals against average in the league at 1.64.

Along with Cunfer, the Academic All-Conference field hockey team consists of Temple's Ashley Bird, Mary Catherine Kinneman and Liz Watto; Sara Conrad of West Chester; Lauren Gillespie from Massachusetts; Angela Lombardo and Michelle Sinclair of Saint Louis; La Salle's Ellen Axelsen; and Jillian Moser and Heather Wrublesky of Richmond.

Bean, in her fourth season at Rhode Island, receives the Coach of the Year honor after leading URI to the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship with a 4-3 league ledger. Her squad is making its first Atlantic 10 Championship appearance since 2000 and is looking for its first-ever A-10 title. Bean is a 1993 graduate of Laurentian University.