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After turning in the best conference showing in the 10-year history of the IUP lacrosse program, Liz Ramsey has been named the PSAC Coach of the Year by her peers for the 2007 season. IUP also placed four players on the all-conference team. Senior Jackie Rutkowski and junior Katie Lee were named to the first team while sophomore Kylie Miller and senior Mallory Zelawski were chosen to the second team. This is the first time IUP has had a recipient of a PSAC postseason award (player, rookie or coach of the year) and had as many as four players selected to the all-conference squad. Ramsey took over the Crimson Hawk lacrosse program on February 2, just 45 days before the start of the season and less than six months after graduating from IUP. She led the team to an overall record of 7-10 and a conference slate of 6-8. The Crimson Hawks were in contention for a first-ever berth in the PSAC playoffs until the final day of the regular season. The seven wins are tied for the second most in a single season in IUP history while the six PSAC victories equaled the combined total of the first nine years of the program. IUP had never won more than two conference games in one season until the 2007 campaign. Ramsey, a four-year letterwinner for IUP from 2003-06, oversaw a Crimson Hawk offense that set school season records for goals scored (231), assists (130) and total points (361). Four of the team's eight PSAC losses came against West Chester and Lock Haven, the top two teams in the nation, and IUP posted its first-ever win over Millersville and second over Shippensburg. Rutkowski, from Upper St. Clair High School, led IUP in goals with 50, assists with 29 and points with 79, setting school single season records in all three categories. She ranked fourth in the PSAC in assists per game (1.71), fifth in points per game (4.65) and eighth in goals per game (2.94). Her points per game average placed her 12th in the nation. Rutkowski had seven games with four or more goals, including a school record nine against Slippery Rock and five on three occasions. She also established a new IUP standard with six assists against Shippensburg. In her career, Rutkowski played in 64 games, the second most ever at IUP, and holds career marks for assists with 58 and points with 192 while finishing with 134 goals scored, just two behind the record held by Amy Hood. Lee, from Camden Catholic (N.J.) High School, kept IUP in several games with her solid play in goal. She broke her own school record by making 270 saves, ranking second in the conference in saves per game with 15.88, and was third in the league and sixth nationally with a .531 save percentage. Lee made 33 saves against Lock Haven to set an IUP record and had 20 or more saves five times to account for five of the top 12 single game save totals in school history. Her 14.17 goals against average was the lowest by a Crimson Hawk goalkeeper in five years. Lee has made 495 saves in her career, 82 shy of Pam Roy's school record, and is third in minutes played by a goalkeeper with 1,810 and fourth in goals against average at 15.38. Miller, from Pine-Richland High School, is on the all-conference team for the second time. She was second on the team goals scored (48), assists (25) and points (73), with each figure ranking just behind Rutkowski in the IUP single season record book. Miller is also a member of the IUP women's basketball team which won the PSAC title and advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. Miller was sixth in the PSAC in assists per game (1.47), seventh in the conference and 18th nationally in points per game (4.29) and ninth in the league in goals per game (2.82). She had six goals in wins over East Stroudsburg and Slippery Rock and five in a victory over Millersville. She also had four assists in the second win over The Rock. In only two seasons at IUP, Miller already ranks third in career assists (41), fourth in points (124) and tied for fifth in goals (83). Zelawski, from Clarence (N.Y.) High School, was third on the team in goals (43), assists (17) and points (60). She followed Rutkowski and Miller in the IUP single season record book in points, ranks in a tie for third in goals and stands sixth in assists. Zelawski set a school record with 12 points in a late season win over Millersville, scoring seven goals and adding five assists. In the regular season finale two days later at Lock Haven, she tallied five goals and earned the PSAC Player of the Week award. Zelawski also had five goals in a win over Slippery Rock and four goals and four assists in a victory over East Stroudsburg. Zelawski played in 62 games during her four-year career, tied for the third most in school history, and is third in goals with 106 and points with 144 while placing fourth in assists with 38.
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