Sarah Romasco, Brittany Pikur Top IUP Players on All-Northeast Region Team

Five IUP soccer players have been named to the Daktronics NCAA Division II All-Northeast Region team for the 2006 season, including a pair of first team selections.

Freshman Sarah Romasco and junior Brittany Pikur were first team all-region choices and will be on the ballot for All-America consideration while seniors Erin Falce and Crystal Heder and junior Janel Paffie made the second team.  The five players from IUP were the most in the region.

In addition to their all-region honors, Pikur and Falce were named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District II third team for their work on the field and the classroom.  Pikur has a 3.69 cumulative grade point average as a health and physical education major.  Falce has the same major and boasts a 3.34 GPA.

Romasco (left), the PSAC West Athlete and Rookie of the Year, led the conference in points with 55, tied for first in goals with 21 and was second in assists with 13, a figure that established a new IUP single season record.  She ranked ninth in the nation in points per game (2.62), tied for 13^th in goals per game (1.00) and tied for 14^th in assists per game (0.62).  The Ambridge High School graduate tied a school record with four goals against Clarion and had two three-goal games.   

Pikur (right), a graduate of Pine-Richland High School, scored 10 goals and added five assists for 25 points this season.  She ranked ninth in the PSAC in goals and points and tied for 14^th in assists.  She had a goal and two assists in a 3-1 win over New Haven in the NCAA Northeast Region semifinals, IUP’s first ever postseason victory.  Pikur has 21 goals to tie Romasco for seventh in school history and also ranks eighth in points with 50.

Falce (left) is on the all-region team for the third time.  She is the all-time IUP leader in goals (59), assists (33) and points (151).  This season, the Hollidaysburg High School product had nine assists, the fourth highest figure in the PSAC, and had five goals for 19 points, 14^th in the league.  Falce holds IUP single season records for goals (29) and points (68), set in 2004, and had four hat tricks in her career.

Heder (right), from Kiski Area High School, scored 12 goals, including two in the PSAC tournament, and added seven assists for 31 points this season.  She ranked fourth in the conference in goals and points and sixth in assists while tallying four game-winning goals.  Heder holds the IUP career record for games played with 80 and stands second in goals with 42, assists with 28 and points with 112. 

Paffie (left), from State College High School, has earned a reputation as one of the top defensive players in the PSAC, earning a spot on the all-conference first team for the past two years.  She spearheads an IUP defense that allowed 34 goals in 22 games, usually marking the opponent’s top scoring threat.  Paffie has played in 62 games in her three-year career and has one goal and five assists.

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