Cambridge, Mass.--
The fans have spoken! University of Vermont junior midfielder Samantha Stern (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) garnered over 20 percent of fans' votes to earn the 2011 America East women's Lacrosse Fans' Choice Player of the Year.
Boston University's Danielle Etrasco (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) also collected a postseason honor, earning the conference's 2011 America East Player of the Game Award.
Stern was one of 14 nominees on the Fans' Choice ballot and received the nod on 527 of the 2371 votes casted. Reigning America East Player of the Year Nikki Branchini (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) of Albany received 497 votes and Catamount freshman Sydney Mas (Bedford, N.Y./St. George's (RI)) followed in third with 357 votes. Voting was conducted on www.AmericaEast.com from April 25-29.
Stern, an attacking midfielder, finished second for the Catamounts with
24 goals and 28 points after starting all 17 games. She also picked up
12 ground balls and won eight draws.
Etrasco earned America East Player of the Game honors five times throughout the season to receive the year-end award. Each team named an America East Player of the Game for each conference contest, as well as every home non-conference game and the conference awards the year-end honor the player receiving the most amount of times throughout the course of the regular season.
Etrasco paced all players during league play with a conference-best 26 goals. Overall, the sophomore attacker finished the regular season with 53 goals, 61 points, 16 ground balls and 40 draw controls. She saved her best game for last with a nine-goal, three-draw control performance at Vermont last Saturday.
The 2011 America East Women's Lacrosse Championship gets underway on Thursday, May 5 at Albany's John Fallon Field. Visit Championship Central
for the schedule, live results, photos and video.
All-Time America East Women's Lacrosse Fans' Choice Players of the Year
2011 - Samantha Stern, Vermont
2010 - Ali Castiglie, Binghamton
2009 - Nikki Branchini, Albany