Complete NFHCA All-America Team
Six Centennial Conference field hockey players have been named to the 2019 Longstreth/NFHCA All-America Team. All six were part of NCAA Final Four teams from Franklin & Marshall and Johns Hopkins. F&M earned four spots on the list while JHU had a pair of players honored.
F&M's Melissa Gula and Lily Mynott led the way as first team selections. JHU's Katie McErlean collected second team accolades, while Hopkins' Abby Birk and the F&M duo of Erin Coverdale and Christina Serry were named to the third team.
McErlean and Coverdale were both repeat All-America honorees.
Gula received her fourth postseason distinction with a selection to the All-America First Team after being named Centennial Conference (CC) Defensive Player of the Year, Regional Player of the Year and landing on the All-CC and All-Region First Team in November. The midfielder started all 24 games and was a key cog in F&M's defense that allowed the fewest goals in the Conference with nine. On the offensive side, the co-captain was third on the team with six assists, tacking on five goals, including the game-winner over Elizabethtown on Aug. 30.
Mynott added the All-America selection to her list of postseason accolades after the junior earned places on the All-CC and All-Region First Teams and was named CC Offensive Player of the Year. In the regular season, Mynott was named CC Offensive Player of the Week twice. The junior set the single-season program records with 30 goals and 65 points and tied the program record for most game-winning goals in a season with nine after her overtime blast over TCNJ in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 16. Mynott turned in three different six-point performances this year, the most in a single season in the history of the F&M field hockey program.
McErlean repeats as a second-team All-American. A four-time All-Centennial Conference selection, she led the Blue Jays with a career-best 15 goals and 35 points. She also ranked third on the team in assists (5). McErlean finished her career ranked seventh in career points (81), sixth in goals (32) and tied for 14th in assists (17). She also broke the school record with five penalty stroke goals this season and tied the career mark with six.
Coverdale earned All-America distinction for the third consecutive season after being named to the All-CC and All-Region First Team earlier this offseason. The senior becomes the fourth player in F&M history to be named to three All-America lists. Coverdale finished with 11 goals and a team-high eight assists on the season, setting the program record for career goals (56) and points (136) along the way. After tallying game-winning goals in back-to-back contests over Lebanon Valley and Mary Washington in September, Coverdale set the program standard with 16 career game-winners, earning CC Offensive Player of the Week honors in the process.
Seery was named to the All-America list for the first time in her career, also earning All-Region and All-CC First Team for the first time this year. Amid 10 shutout performances, the junior goalkeeper was also named CC Defensive Player of the Week two times this season. Seery started all 24 games for the Diplomats and her 0.80 goals-against average was good for 12th in the country.
Birk led the Blue Jays and the Centennial and ranked sixth in the nation with 18 assists. She also ranked second in the conference in points (38) and tied for 10th in goals (10). Her 18 assists are one shy of the school single-season record and she is tied for third in school history with 24 career assists.