Dec. 10, 2002
Lafayette senior Megan Monahan (Lansdale, Pa.) and Holy Cross senior Liz Tutella (Blandon, Pa.) were named to the 2002 STX/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I All-America team today.
Monahan became the first Leopard to earn second-team All-America recognition in the last decade while Tutella, a third-team All-American, is the first Crusader in the 20-year history of the team to earn national recognition from the NFHCA.
Monahan and Tutella join an elite list of six Patriot League players to gain All-America recognition from the NFHCA in the last 10 years. Previous honorees, all earning third-team All-America honors, include Lafayette's Andrea Dagostino (1993), Ali Murphy (1996), Kim Stone (1999) and Bucknell's Lauren Dampbell (2001).
Additionally, Lafayette coach Ann Gold was named the Regional Coach of the Year by the NFHCA. The Lafayette field hockey team (19-3) finished the season ranked No. 20, falling to California 1-0 in overtime in the NCAA Play-In game. The Leopards won 19-straight matches on the way to the 2002 PL title.
The All-American honor is the most prestigious in a long list of awards Monahan has collected this season after finishing as the nation's leading goal scorer (33) and point producer (72).
Monahan already repeated as the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, and won the Most Valuable Player award at the Patriot League Tournament while leading the Leopards to a Patriot League championship.
She also captured STX/NFHCA Mideast Regional All-America First Team honors for the second straight year, and Monahan recently competed alongside Lafayette teammate and fellow co-captain Erica Bartsch (Downingtown, Pa./Henderson) in the NFHCA North/South Senior All-Star Game in Louisville, KY.
Monahan spearheaded the fourth-rated scoring offense in the nation, leading the Leopards to a school and conference-record 19 consecutive victories and a national ranking that reached as high as No. 18. She finished her career as the leading goal scorer (65) and point producer (128) in Patriot League history. Monahan's 2002 season broke every school and conference offensive scoring record.
Before Monahan's second team selection only two Leopards have been named to the All-America Team, Kim Stone 1999 and Ali Murphy 1996, and both were third team selections.
Tutella, senior co-captain had already earned the First Team All-Regional nod on Nov. 18, after receiving Second Team honors a season ago. She led the team in: points (31) and goals (13), which placed her fifth and third in the conference, respectively for all games played. Four of her 13 goals were game-winners, two of which came in league action.
She is the first field hockey player in the 20-year history of the program to receive national All-America honors and is one of ten Crusader women to tag regional distinction.
The Holy Cross field hockey squad (10-10, 4-2) fell to #18 Lafayette, 2-1, in the 2002 Patriot League Championship, Nov. 9, after defeating American University, 1-0, in the semifinals, Nov. 8.
Holy Cross captured the Patriot League regular season championship in 2000 and 2001 and made its sixth-straight tournament appearance and eighth overall.