Koralus, Maher, and DeRuzzio Honored with Skyline Conference Awards

Koralus, Maher, and DeRuzzio Honored with Skyline Conference Awards

New York, NYThe Sage Colleges' women's lacrosse team had three players honored with the release of the 2016 Skyline Conference Women's Lacrosse All-Star Team. Junior attacker Monica Koralus (Verbank, NY/Millbrook) was named to the First Team, while senior attacker Nicole Maher (Glen Cove, NY/Saint Dominic) and rookie defender Michaela DeRuzzio (Hudson, NY/Taconic Hills) were named to the Second Team.

Koralus, a junior co-captain becomes just the second Sage women's lacrosse player to earn Skyline Conference First Team honors. The only other Sage first-team honoree was Kimberlee Carr in 2014. Koralus' record-setting performance helped her earn the award, which follows on the heels of her selection as the team's Gator of the Year award, as the team's most valuable player. She shattered most of the program's career and single-season marks along the way. She led the Gators with 77 points on 64 goals and 15 assists, all of which are single-season marks. She is also the program's career leader in all three categories as she has 149 points on a record 113 goals and 36 assists, while also holding the career mark for most draw controls after adding a single-season record 64 this season to elevate her career total to 118.

With the release of the latest NCAA Division III statistics, Koralus is among the national leaders in six different categories. She is ranked No. 15 in goals per game average with her 4.27 goals per game average. She is also No. 17 in goals, No. 34 n points per game average (5.27), while also in points, free position goals per game, and free position percentage and draw controls.

Maher, a first-time women's lacrosse player for Sage this spring, was named to the Skyline Conference Women's Lacrosse Second Team after also earning a spot on the 2015 Skyline Conference Women's Soccer All-Star First Team as a goalie. Tapped as Sage's Female Athlete of the Year, Maher had an impressive rookie season on the lacrosse field.   She tallied 34 points to finish second in scoring. Her 2016 accomplishments also rank among the lacrosse program's all-time career highs as she stands No. 7 in goals (29), No. 8 in assists (5), and No. 7 in points (34).

DeRuzzio, who was a 15-game starter as a rookie, helped to anchor Sage's defense. She added 37 ground ball pickups, which was second highest on the squad. She also tallied 14 draw controls, while also causing 16 turnovers for the Gators.

Sage's 2016 season was a record-setting one as rookie head coach Lauren Marois, produced three Skyline Conference All-Stars, while the Gators went 5-10 overall and 1-6 in the league. The five wins breaks the program's mark for most wins in a season along the way, while also shattering the mark for most goals in a season (158) and most points (189) and tying the mark for most assists in a season with 31.