Penikis, Murphy Named First-Team All-Centennial; Borbee Named Coach of the Year
LANCASTER, Pa. - Junior Annalise Penikis and sophomore Caroline Murphy of the Swarthmore College women's lacrosse team have been named to the All-Centennial Conference First Team while head coach Karen Borbee has been selected as the Coach of the Year, the conference announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Penikis is a repeat selection to the All-Centennial first team and is one of only three unanimous All-Centennial selections. Murphy is an All-Centennial selection for the first time in her career. Former high school teammates at nearby Strath Haven, Penikis and Murphy are the first set of Swarthmore teammates to make the All-Centennial First Team since Katie Tarr and Heather Kile in 2002.
An All-America candidate, Penikis (Swarthmore, Pa./Strath Haven) finished the season with 68 goals, 40 assists and 108 points. She became the first player in the history of the Centennial Conference to lead the Conference in goals (61), assists (37) and points (98) in regular-season play. Highlights from Penikis' outstanding season include scoring the game-winning goal with :02 seconds remaining in play to defeat Muhlenberg and recording five goals and two assists in the upset playoff victory over Ursinus. Penikis' 108 total points for the 2012 season ranks fourth all-time in program history and fifth all-time in Centennial Conference history. Her 40 assists for the season ranks fourth all-time in program history and her 68 goals ranks fifth all-time in a single season. Penikis also finished the season with 205 career points, becoming just the seventh player in program history to eclipse 200 points for a career.
Murphy (Media, Pa./Strath Haven) was the anchor of the Garnet defense all season long, finishing the season with a team-high 24 caused turnovers and 31 ground balls. Murphy and the defense played its best during the Garnet's late-season playoff run, limiting the Dickinson and Haverford offenses to single-digit goal totals and holding Ursinus' top offsenive threat Alyssa Thren without a goal in their playoff game.
In her 19th season as head coach of the lacrosse program, Borbee receives Centennial Conference Coach of the Year accolades for the first time in her career. This past season, Borbee guided the Garnet to the Centennial Conference playoffs for the first time since 2006. While in the playoffs, the No. 5 seed Garnet made a splash, upsetting No. 4 seed Ursinus 11-10 to reach the semifinals, marking the first Centennial Conference playoff victory in program history. With 191 career victories, Borbee is the winningest lacrosse coach - including the men's and women's programs - in Swarthmore history. Borbee also previously coached the field hockey and women's basketball programs at Swarthmore, leading the 1996 and 1997 field hockey teams to Centennial Conference championships.
