East Stroudsburg University's Kristin Restivo, the nation's leading scorer, was recently selected as the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Lacrosse Player of the Year and ESU Coach Sandy Miller was named the PSAC Coach of the Year.

Restivo, a senior from Westbury, scored 72 goals in 16 games for an average of 4.5 goals per game, tops for any NCAA Division II player. The runner-up was Melissa Campbell of Philadelphia University with 66 goals in 16 games for an average of 4.13 per game.

Miller coached the Warriors to the best season in the school's history with an 11-5 record, setting a school mark for most wins in a season, and a runner-up finish in the PSAC.

Four other ESU players were honored. Second home Megan Macauley from Doylestown and point Andrea Demidont from Somerset joined Restivo on the All-Conference first team while first home Colleen Birmingham from Prospect Park and third man Britt Huckaby from Medford Lakes, NJ, were second team selections. All are seniors.

Restivo scored four or more goals in 13 of the team's 16 games. She had a high of seven goals in victories over Shippensburg and Lock Haven and had six goals in two other games.

Her biggest game was against West Chester when she scored five straight goals to bring the Warriors back from a 5-0 half-time deficit en route to a 7-6 win. It was the team's first series win over the Golden Rams after 33 straight defeats.

Restivo also added 15 assists for 87 points, an average of 5.5 per game, second in the nation. She set school records for goals in a season and also for goals in a career with 189, 40 more than the previous mark.

"I'm so happy for Kristin and our other players," said Miller, who admittedly also was thrilled by her own Coach of the Year selection.

"Kristin is one of those great athletes who makes everything look easy," the coach continued. "She does things effortlessly on the field, is very intelligent and knows how to get into position to score.

"Her statistics are truly amazing considering that she had to work through double teams all season. She did it and with her quick release, by the time goalies reacted, the ball was in the back of the net," Miller explained.

Macauley was second on the team and tenth in the nation in goals scored with 52 and in points with 70. She had 18 assists and finished her career with a school-record 66 assists. She scored the winning goal with 21 seconds in the victory over West Chester.

Demidont, Birmingham and Huckaby were leaders on the ESU defense which allowed less than nine goals per game, holding 10 opponents under 10 goals.

Restivo is a first team repeater. Macauley made the first team as a sophomore and the second team last year. Demidont moved up from her 1999 second team selection. Birmingham and Huckaby were honored for the first time.

Miller has coached the ESU lacrosse team for 16 years. She has produced All-America players the last five years. She also is the school's field hockey coach. This is her second PSAC Coach of the Year Award as she was honored in field hockey in 1996.

Bloomsburg, the conference champion, had the most first team selections with five in goalie Yshonda Wisher, attackers Michele Baylor and Roxann Emerick and defenders Margo Wiley and Nicole Wiley. The Huskies beat ESU, 11-10 in overtime, in the conference championship game last Saturday.

The complete teams:

First Team - Offense: Michele Baylor and Roxann Emerick, Bloomsburg; Megan Macauley and Kristin Restivo (Player of the Year), ESU; Kim Rochon, West Chester; Keri Hopkins, Shippensburg; Defense: Jennifer Brokenshire, Millersville; Andrea Demidont, ESU; Margo Wiley and Nicole Wiley, Bloomsburg; Heather Kennedy, Shippensburg and Kris Lawson, West Chester; Goalie: Yshonda Wisher, Bloomsburg.

Second Team - Offense: Noelle Bowman, IUP; Megan Dwyer, Lock Haven; Shannon Eidse, West Chester; Alyssa Kusturiss, IUP; Jacqui Moss, Millersville; Kathleen Sheehan, Shippensburg (Rookie of the Year); Defense: Mara Bates and Kristin Schellinger Bloomsburg; Colleen Birmingham and Britt Hickaby, ESU; Nicole Berkenbough, Shippensburg, Nicole Tursi, IUP; Goalie: Mindy Bodolus, West Chester.