Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/19/12
From Press Release
The defending Division III National champion Gettysburg women’s lacrosse team will be led by plenty of experience this spring as seniors Lexi Kelly (Ridley Park, Pa./Agnes Irwin), Hannah Church (Ellicott City, Md./Mount de Sales) and Maddie Coleman (Lexington, Va./Rockbridge County), and have been named captains of Gettysburg College women’s lacrosse team.
Kelly, Church and Coleman are decorated veterans for the Gettysburg College women’s lacrosse team and Head Coach Carol Cantele ’83 (Nether Providence). The trio has helped the program reach the national semifinals in each of the last three seasons, culminating in the 2011 NCAA Division III championship.
One of the team’s most vocal leaders, Kelly was named a team captain for the second year in a row. The senior defender was an essential component of Gettysburg’s seventh-ranked defense in 2011 and garnered All-CC Honorable Mention. Kelly started all 22 games she played last spring and finished second on the team with 22 caused turnovers, while also contributing 30 ground balls.
A strong candidate for national player of the year honors this spring, Church was named Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) All-America Second Team after finishing among the national leaders with 86 goals and 99 points in 2011. The senior attacker scored a goal every game last spring and was also named first-team all-region and first-team All-Centennial Conference. In the NCAA playoffs, Church shattered the record for points and goals scored with 29 and 26, respectively, en route to being tabbed the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
Coleman was impressive in her first season as Gettysburg’s starting goalkeeper. She appeared in 19 games with 16 starts and finished with a goals against average of 7.57 and a save percentage of .534. Coleman rated fourth in Division III in save percentage, while rating 10th overall in GAA. She was named All-Metro Region Second Team and All-Centennial Conference First Team. The Bullets goalie was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team after stopping a combined 19 shots in the final two games, including 10 against No. 4 SUNY Cortland in the semifinals.
Gettysburg begins the defense of its national title on February 23 when the team travels to the University of Mary Washington for a 4 p.m. battle.
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