Field Hockey News

2007 SEASON REVIEW

DOYLESTOWN (PA) -- The Delaware Valley College field hockey team, under head coach Carol Di Girolamo, recently wrapped up its 2007 season. The Aggies went 12-8 overall, 3-3 and tied with two others for third place in the Freedom Conference.

Delaware Valley finished tied with both DeSales University and Wilkes University in the conference standings. However, the conference tiebreakers favored the other two schools and the Aggies missed out on their second straight postseason appearance.

It was still a record-setting campaign as 19 school marks (team and individual) were either tied or broken. Delaware Valley got off to a 5-0 start to tie the record for both consecutive wins and an unbeaten streak. Part of that run was capturing the Villa Julie College Tournament with wins over Wells College (13-0) and Bridgewater College (3-0). The rout of Wells saw the Aggies set team marks for goals (13), assists (9) and points (35).

The Aggies finished with 12 wins to tie the mark first set by the 2001 squad, and it was also the third straight winning season (9-8 in 2005 and 10-9 in 2006) to tie that team mark as well (first set from 1980 to 1982). The team also shattered the single-season records for goals (69 breaking the previous mark of 49), assists (43 breaking the previous mark of 28), points (181 breaking the previous mark of 126) and shutouts (6 breaking the previous mark of 5).

Sophomore midfielder Bethany Pavlik (Lewes, DE/Sussex Technical) and junior forward Michelle Cernobyl (Allentown, PA/Louis E. Dieruff) produced record numbers on the offensive end and were each selected to the all-Freedom Conference second team.

Pavlik, who was the Freedom's Rookie of the Year and a second team selection last season, recorded at least one point against every conference opponent this year. She finished with 20 goals and 10 assists (tying the single-season mark) for a school-record 50 points. The point and assist totals led the Freedom Conference while her goal output placed second.

Pavlik opened the year by notching five goals and one assist for 11 points in the 13-0 win over Wells. The five goals tied the school record originally set by Diane Bradley against Beaver in 1982 while her 11 points broke Bradley's mark of 10 from that same game. Pavlik is already third on the Aggie all-time list with 32 goals and 13 assists for 67 points.

Cernobyl, who was a first-team honoree last year, became Delaware Valley's all-time leader in both goals and points during the '07 campaign. She surpassed the previous marks of 38 goals and 89 points set by Kristin Cottman (2001-04) and will enter her senior season with 46 tallies and 104 points.

In 2007, Cernobyl led the Freedom Conference set an Aggie single-season record with 21 goals. She also added five assists (10th in the conference) to place behind only Pavlik in the conference with 47 points.

Sophomore midfielder Danielle Heyne (Mt. Bethel, PA/Bangor) also had a year to remember as she tied Pavlik for the single-season team record and the conference lead in assists (10) and also added nine goals for 28 points. Her numbers also placed her eighth in the Freedom in scoring and 10th in goals. Heyne opened the year with four assists against Wells to break the school's single-game mark of three set by Claudia Krebs against Moravian in 1982.

Stephanie Dec (Oak Ridge, NJ/Jefferson Township) also placed among the Freedom Conference statistical leaders as her six assists ranked seventh in the league. The junior midfielder also scored four goals to finish with 14 points.

For the second year in a row, junior Amy Stafford (Bernville, PA/Hamburg) started the season at her natural position of midfield, but moved to goalkeeper to help the squad. She played the final six games in the cage and went 4-2 with 41 saves, a 1.33 goals against average and led the Freedom with three shutouts (0.50 avg). At midfield, she scored three goals and assisted on two others for eight points.

Junior Lauren Lansberry (Klingerstown, PA/Line Mountain) missed the first 11 games due to an injury. However, she bounced back strong in the last nine contests and tied Stafford and three others for fifth on the team in scoring with three goals and two assists for eight points.

Junior forward/midfielder Nicole Stefanoni (Levittown, PA/Harry S. Truman) and freshmen forwards Marissa DiMiero (Delran, NJ/Delran) and Holly Rich (Wharton, NJ/Roxbury) also tied Lansberry and Stafford as all three finished with three goals and two assists for eight points.

Junior Meghan Clark (Madison, NJ/Chatham) and freshmen Mindy Miniconzi (Blackwood, NJ/Highland) each started all 20 games on defense and notched two defensive saves apiece. Freshman Katy Provenzale (Andover, NJ/Newton) also started all 20 games while classmate Kate Highberger (Haddon Heights, NJ/Camden Catholic) started 13 of the 16 contests she appeared in and was credited with one defensive save.

The defenders played in front of junior goalkeeper Jackie Deschenes (Oak Ridge, NJ/Jefferson Township) for the first 14 games of the season. Deschenes finished with eight wins, 45 saves, three shutouts and a 2.20 goals against average.

Nikki Rogers (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Township), Sara Wallet (Bel Air, MD/ Harford Tech) and Katie Richter (Greenport, NY/Greenport) saw time during the year for Delaware Valley. Rogers, a freshman forward, played in 13 games and scored one goal for two points. Wallett, a senior defender, capped her career by appearing in five contests. Richter, a sophomore, played in two games and recorded one defensive save.

Sophomore defender Rachel Betz (Audubon, NJ/Audubon) missed the entire 2007 season with an injury.