Franklin & Marshall's Bridget Falcone was named to the Longstreth/NFHCA Division III All-America First Team on Tuesday. The honor makes her the 31st player in program history to earn All-America status, and marks the sixth consecutive season that the Diplomats placed a player on the squad.
Falcone (New Canaan, Conn. / New Canaan) continues to garner postseason accolades for her stellar season. The award is the first All-America nod for the senior, who already earned All-Centennial Conference, All-ECAC, and NFHCA All-South Region recognition this season.
A starter on defense in all 21 of F&M's contests, she captained a Diplomat team that finished the season ranked second in the conference and 14th in the country with a 0.93 goals-against average. As a unit, the F&M defense tallied eight shutouts on the year, which tied for the 13th best total in the nation.
Senior Rachel Strow of the Muhlenberg field hockey team was named to the Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division III All-America Team. She was a first-team selection.
Strow is the first Mule ever named to the NFHCA All-America first team. The only previous honoree, Kayleigh Thies, was a third-team pick in 2013.
The NFHCA Division III South Region player of the Year, Strow also was named to the All-South Region first team and the ECAC Division III South first team. The Centennial Conference player of the year and a unanimous All-CC first-team selection, she earned additional recognition on the CC Academic Honor Roll and the ECAC Division III all-tournament team. Strow was CC player of the week three times during the season, once earning recognition from the NFHCA as Division III player of the week, and was selected to play in the Division III Senior All-Star Game.
Strow enjoyed a phenomenal senior campaign in which she set school records for points (49) and goals (21) in a season. She finished the year tied for 14th in Division III in goals and broke a 54-year-old school record by scoring a goal in 11 consecutive games. She tied another school record with three assists in one game and recorded at least one point in 16 of the Mules' 21 games.
Despite missing most of her junior year with injury, Strow finished in the top 10 in team history in points (ninth with 68) and goals (tied for 10th with 28).
Ursinus College field hockey seniors Amber Steigerwalt and Aliki Torrence repeated as Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-Americans on Tuesday, adding another jewel to their accolade-filled seasons. Torrence received first-team billing, while Steigerwalt was recognized on the second team.
A four-time All-CC and all-region performer, Torrence is a first team All-American for the second straight season. An All-American for the third time, she was the backbone of a defense that allowed only 24 goals in 22 games and even emerged as a weapon on offense with four goals and four assists. Torrence added a defensive save to finish her career with nine, which places her sixth in program history. She started all but one of 86 career games, including every contest for the last three years.
A two-time first team All-CC and all-region honoree, Steigerwalt led the Bears in goals (16) and points (37) in 2016. Steigerwalt, who tied for third in the Centennial Conference in both categories, finished her career tied for fifth in goals (57) and sixth in points (140) in program history. She ranks sixth in conference history in game-winning goals (15), eighth in points, and tied for tenth in goals. Steigerwalt started every game for the last three seasons and made 81 starts in her career.
The selections of Steigerwalt and Torrence gave the Bears multiple All-Americans for the third consecutive season. Ursinus has had at least one first team All-American for the last four years.
Dickinson junior Kim Monteferante (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Lakeland) was named to the 2016 Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-American Team, announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Monteferante was a Third-team selection, becoming the second straight Red Devil to earn All-America honors, following in the steps of Merritt Davis (Baltimore, Md./Garrison Forest), who earned Third-team honors last fall.
Monteferante made her second straight appearance on the All-Region squad this season, earning Second-team honors in 2015. She had another outstanding season, anchoring the Red Devil defense with consistently strong play while also making a major impact on penalty corners. She tallied two goals and five assists on the season, ranked fourth in the CC with five defensive saves, and helped the Red Devils post five shutouts on the year.
Head Coach Carly Zinn had high praise for her junior captain. "Anyone who was able to see any of our games this season witnessed the strong force of Kim Monteferante. Her presence on the field and control of the game is undeniable to anyone watching.
At the start of preseason I asked Kim to play a very different style of defense than what she had been was used to. As she was very successful and a strong force prior to this season, it would have been very easy for her to not buy in, and to continue being strong in her play without making the change.
Kim's profound leadership qualities and values emerged when she asked numerous questions on how to make adjustments on these small details, and worked extra hard to be able to make the changes we were asking of her. Kim's relentless work ethic as well as her commitment to the success of our team, both on and off the field, have developed her into one of the strongest DIII defenders in the country. I am eagerly awaiting August 2017 to see the heights of which she will lead our team to," stated Zinn.
Monteferante made her second straight appearance on the All-Conference squad as well. She was a First-team selection after earning Second-team recognition in 2015, and is a two-time member of the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll.