Koralus honored as Gator of the Year in women's lacrosse
Albany, NY–The Sage Colleges' department of athletics gathered to recognize and honor the outstanding performances of the 2015-2016 year with the naming of the athletic award winners for the 15 varsity athletic teams with the awarding the Gator Award, for the Most Outstanding Player. In women's lacrosse, junior co-captain and attacker Monica Koralus (Verbank, NY/Millbrook) was named as the Gator of the Year.
Sage's head women's lacrosse coach, Lauren Marois noted, "Monica has exceeded my expectations this season." Marois added, "She accepted a new coaching staff, as well as other changes to the program and excelled greatly. Her commitment and dedication to the sport is what makes Monica a true student-athlete."
Koralus, who was also honored this spring with a selection as a member of the 2016 Skyline Conference All-Star First Team, is a two-sport performer having also led the women's soccer program to the College's first Skyline Conference regular-season title in 2015.
In women's lacrosse, Koralus became just the second Sage 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.
Marois added, "Being able to break the program's records for goals, assists, points, free position goals and draw controls, as only a junior, was a major factor in helping the tea to the most successful season yet. Scoring 79 points this year, I can see her continue to excel once again as a senior leader for the 2017 squad. With her leadership on and off of the field Monica is a key part to the future of this program."
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.
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.
