NJAC All-Conference Team
PITMAN, NJ – The Rowan University field hockey team received five of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) end of the year awards and six players earned All-Conference honors.
Forward Lauren Ross (jr. Gloucester City, NJ/Gloucester) was named the NJAC Attack Player of the Year, Jenna Lombardo (sr. Barnegat, NJ/Southern Reg.) was selected the Midfielder of the Year and Kacey Ehret (sr. Collingswood, NJ/Collingswood) was chosen the Defensive Player of the Year. Lisa Apt (so. Mays Landing, NJ/Oakcrest) was tabbed the conference’s Goaltender of the Year and Penny Kempf was voted the NJAC Coach of the Year. Ross, Lombardo, Ehret and Apt were all members of the NJAC All-Conference first team along with back Lauren Conner (so. Egg Harbor Twp., NJ/Egg Harbor Twp.). Forward Julie Cairone (so. Medford, NJ/Shawnee) received All-Conference honorable mention.
Ross is the Profs’ leading scorer with 38 points. She has scored 18 goals and assisted on two. In the overall conference stats, Ross is tied for first in goals (18) and is second in points (38). She is also ranked third in points (2.11) and goals (1.0) per game. Last year, Ross was a NJAC All-Conference honorable mention selection.
Lombardo has contributed with one goal and six assists for eight points. She is tied for second in the NJAC in assists (6) and is fourth in assists per game (0.35). A starter, Conner has eight points with three goals and two assists. Ehret and Conner start on a defense that has recorded seven shutouts and a goals against average (GAA) of 1.20. Rowan is ranked first in the conference in scoring margin (1.70) and shutouts (7) and second in GAA (1.20). In 2008, Ehret was selected to the NJAC All-Conference first team.
This season, Apt has started every game in the Profs’ goal. She has compiled 81 saves for a 79.4 save percentage that is first in the NJAC. Apt is also ranked first in shutouts (5) and second in GAA (1.23). She was selected the NJAC Defensive Player of the Week in the first week of the season. Apt made five saves in a 4-0 win over Cabrini College and she stopped seven shots for a 4-0 shutout against Haverford College.
In her 12th season, Kempf has a won-loss record of 187-48. She has guided Rowan to six NJAC Championships (2009, 2005, 2003, 2002, 2000, 1998), 11 NCAA tournament appearances and one NCAA Division III title (2002). This is her fourth NJAC Coach of the Year honor. She was also named the conference’s Coach of the Year in 2005, 2002 and 1998.
Cairone is third on the team in scoring with 25 points. She has 10 goals and five assists. Twice this year, she was selected the NJAC Offensive Player of the Week. In the conference, Cairone is tied for sixth in game winning goals (3) and tied for seventh in goals (10). She is also ranked seventh in points (25) and eighth in points (1.39) and goals (0.56) per game.
Rowan has a 14-4 overall record. The Profs were undefeated in the conference with a 6-0 mark. The field hockey team received an automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament as the NJAC champion. Rowan is making its 17th trip and fifth straight to the national postseason.
