Saint Francis’ Sabrina Lane Tabbed NEC Softball Coach-of-the-Year

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (May 9, 2008) – Saint Francis University head coach Sabrina Lane was selected by her peers as the Northeast Conference Softball Coach-of-the-Year, headlining four awards handed out to the Red Flash at a banquet on the eve of the 2008 NEC Softball Tournament.

Junior utility player Nicole Waligora (Johnstown, Pa. / Westmont Hilltop) collected first team all-NEC honors after finishing the regular season ranked fifth in the league in on-base percentage (.440). The Johnstown native hit .326 on the year with 19 RBIs and 11 runs scored. Senior centerfielder Nicole Bender (Patton, Pa. / Central Cambria) and junior pitcher Laura Caldwell (Bellefonte, Pa. / Bellefonte) round out the Red Flash’s all-league awardees as all-NEC second team members.

Bender hit .392 in league play and set a single-season program record in hits (62) and runs (42), while Caldwell, who tossed a pair of no-hitters on the year, including a perfect game in SFU’s 3-0 win at Sacred Heart on April 27, posted a 1.90 ERA in NEC play, holding opponents to a .216 average. Caldwell also re-established the school’s single-season strikeouts record with 170.

Lane, who is in her second season at the helm of the Saint Francis softball program, becomes Saint Francis’ first-ever NEC Softball Coach-of-the-Year. She guided the Red Flash to its first postseason berth since 2002. Saint Francis’ 23 wins are the most since 2002 and rank third on the program’s all-time single-season list. The Red Flash’s 11-6 finish in conference play is its second-best league win percentage. With the return of 14 student-athletes from last season, Lane directed SFU to an undefeated 7-0 record in NEC home games this season, culminating in a crucial 4-2 win over NEC rival Monmouth that secured a playoff spot.

Waligora, Bender and Caldwell become SFU’s first all-NEC honorees since 2004 when Sarah Rebar and Cassie Scofield picked up second team selections. Waligora is the first Red Flash player to be named to the all-NEC First Team since Brittany Shepherd in 2003.

Saint Francis drew the No. 3 seed in the Northeast Conference Tournament, which will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday after Friday’s action was rained out. The Red Flash will face second-seeded Robert Morris at 12:30 p.m.