Fitzpatrick and Aronowicz Named To All-BIG EAST Field Hockey First Team
11/2/2000 12:15:48 PM | Field Hockey
Fifth-year senior forward Laura Fitzpatrick (Dalton, PA/Lackawanna Trail) and sophomore midfielder Kristin Aronowicz (Exton, PA/Downingtown) were named to the All-BIG EAST First Team. Selected to the All-BIG EAST Second Team were sophomore goalkeeper Audrey Latsko (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus) and junior forward Michelle Aronowicz (Exton, PA/Downingtown).
First-year forward Emily Smith (Mifflinburg, PA/Mifflinburg) was a unanimous selection to the 2000 BIG EAST All-Rookie Team.
Fitzpatrick was the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year in 1996. She earned second-team All-BIG EAST honors her sophomore year and first-team All-BIG EAST honors her junior year. She missed the entire 1999 season because of a torn ACL, but returned this year to tally a career-high 21 points (six goals, nine assists) which makes her the Orangewomen's second-leading scorer.
The team's leader in points is Kristin Aronowicz, who was the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year in 1999. This season, Aronowicz registered a team-high 26 points. She netted 11 goals, including three against BIG EAST opponents.
Michelle Aronowicz led SU with four goals against conference foes. This was the first time since being named to the 1998 All-Rookie Team, that Michelle earned honors from the BIG EAST. She enters Friday's semifinal game against Connecticut as one of the hottest players on the team, having scored six of her nine goals this season during SU's last eight games.
Latsko, a member of the All-Rookie team last year, garnered second-team All-BIG EAST laurels after leading the conference in goals against average (1.15) and save percentage (.872). She totalled 156 saves during the regular season and recorded six shutouts.
Smith saw the most action of any first-year player on the squad this season (18 games, three starts). She tallied four goals, including the game-winner in SU's 1-0 upset victory against then No. 7-ranked Massachusetts on Oct. 7. She was also responsible for the game-tying score at Villanova which sent the game into overtime and enabled Syracuse to capture a 5-4 BIG EAST triumph on Oct. 13.
The Orangewomen (12-7) are the No. 4 seed in this year's BIG EAST Tournament. They will play No. 1-seeded Connecticut (14-6) in the first semifinal at 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3 at the George J. Sherman Family-Sports Complex in Storrs, CT. The other semifinal, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. pits the No. 2 seed, Rutgers, against the No. 3 seed, Providence.
Syracuse won its last BIG EAST title in 1995. The Orangewomen were runners-up to the Huskies last season.
