Landmark Coaches Take Notice of Miller, Franklin

TOWSON, Md. — Goucher, which returned to the Landmark Conference playoffs for the first time this season after a three-year absence, claimed two of the three major awards that the head coaches voted on when they cast their ballots for the 2015 All-Landmark Conference Women's Lacrosse Team.

The seven head coaches, according to an official announcement by the conference issued this afternoon, selected head coach Ceri Miller and assistant Kristen Bilney as Coaching Staff of the Year and Jojo Franklin (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver School) as Rookie of the Year. Nikki Kleiman from Drew was named Player of the Year.

Miller just completed her second season as head coach of the Gophers, guiding them to an 11-7 record for their first winning season since 2006. The last time Goucher produced the top women's lacrosse coach was in 1996 when Kathy Frick earned the honor in the Capital Athletic Conference.

Franklin, one of nine freshmen on Goucher's 2015 roster, appeared in 17 games this season and supplied the Gophers with 29 goals and 19 assists to rank second on the team with 48 points. She controlled a team-high 49 draws and was credited with 42 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers.

Goucher's last Rookie of the Year in the sport of women's lacrosse was Emily Blatter in the CAC in 2005.

Franklin was one of only two freshmen who were voted onto the All-Landmark first team, which included three attackers, five midfielders, four defenders and one goalie representing six of the seven schools in the conference which play women's lacrosse. In junior defender Kat Carnevale (Portland, Ore./St. Mary's Academy), Goucher did, however, have another first-team all-conference performer. Carnevale, who made the All-Landmark second team last season as a sophomore, finished with 27 ground balls and has the third-most caused turnovers (26) among Landmark Conference players.

The Gophers also landed two players on the All-Landmark second team, including Stefi Perry (Houston, Texas/Klein) for the second year in a row. The sophomore midfielder started all 18 games this season and, in addition to her team-leading totals of 36 goals, 51 ground balls and 38 caused turnovers, she had four assists and 36 draw controls.

Goucher's other second-team all-conference performer was freshman attacker Jessica Borucki (Westminster, Md./North Carroll). In her first season, she led the Gophers with 57 points by scoring 33 times and assisting 24 goals. She also collected 26 ground balls, controlled 15 draws and caused 10 turnovers.