Six Spartans Earn All-Conference Honors

MELBOURNE, Fla. - Thirty-four student-athletes are recognized as All-Conference following the eighth season of Sunshine State Conference women's lacrosse. Caroline Gastonguay of Rollins collects Player of the Year honors, while FSC's Kara Reber repeats as Coach of the Year and Maria Palomba from Saint Leo University receives Freshman of the Year accolades. Voting for the All-SSC Women's Lacrosse Team was conducted among the league's head coaches.

All-SSC History: SSC Players and Coaches of the Year | All-SSC Teams

In 17 games this season, Gastonguay tallied 77 points from 47 goals and 30 assists with a .595 shooting percentage. The senior from Lewiston, Maine, ranks second in SSC points per game (4.53), sixth in assists per game (1.76), and ninth in goals per game (2.76). Gastonguay is also Top-10 in league ground balls per game (2.29) and caused turnovers per game (1.47). She is the second Rollins women's lacrosse athlete to earn Player of the Year honors and the first since 20151.

Palomba recorded 166 draw controls and 9.22 draw controls per game across her 18 games to lead the conference in 2022. She also led Saint Leo with 37 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers this season. Offensively, Palomba tallied 27 points from 14 goals and 13 assists with a .636 shooting percentage. The midfielder from Lawrenceville, Georgia,  is the second consecutive women's lacrosse athlete from the Lions' program to win Freshman of the Year accolades2.
 
Reber repeats as Coach of the Year following a 15-3 overall record and the fourth SSC postseason title for the Moccasins. This season, FSC led the league in scoring margin (7.5), goals per game (18.1), assists per game (8.6), points per game (26.7), and shooting percentage (.569). Reber remains the only Florida Southern skipper to be honored as Coach of the Year.

FSC's Patricia Werker highlights this year's All-SSC repeat winners. The Moccasins' goalkeeper collected back-to-back First Team accolades in 2021 and 2022, following her Second Team and Freshman of the Year honors from 2019. Werker and teammate Abby Hammond are the only players honored in 2022 to be named All-SSC three times. Hammond moves up to the First Team after Second Team laurels in 2019 and 2021. Gastonguay and the Florida Southern pair of Lizzy Lynch and Hailey Daleo repeat as First Team honorees from 2021. Tampa's Dani Waters and Embry-Riddle's Elizabeth Ninesling collect First Team honors after previously being named the All-SSC Second Team in their careers.

Player of the Year: Caroline Gastonguay, Rollins
Freshman of the Year: Maria Palomba, Saint Leo
Coach of the Year: Kara Reber, Florida Southern
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