FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  
S-30-00-01  
Friday, November 17, 2000

Three Elizabethtown Players Named Commonwealth Conference Field Hockey All-Stars; Yvonne Kauffman Named co-Coach of the Year

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — Three members of the 2000 Elizabethtown College field hockey team have been named Commonwealth Conference all-stars. Mandi Ewing (McClure, PA/West Snyder) was named to the conference first team, and Mindy Nace (Thompsontown, PA/East Juniata) and Beth Purcell (Lancaster, PA/Penn Manor) were named Commonwealth Conference second team all-stars. In addition, Etown head coach Yvonne Kauffman has been named co-Coach of the Year in the Commonwealth Conference.

Kauffman was named co-Coach of the Year after guiding Elizabethtown to a 15-5 overall mark in 2000 and leading the team to the Commonwealth Conference playoffs. The Blue Jays concluded the season ranked 16th in the nation in the NFHCA coaches' poll. It was a dramatic turnaround from the 1999 season, when the team finished 8-11. In addition, Kauffman tallied the 1000th victory of her collegiate coaching career in a 3-0 victory over nationally-ranked York College October 10.

Mandi Ewing, a senior link, finished the 2000 season tied for the team lead in goals with 13. She led the Blue Jays in points with 40, and led both Etown and the Commonwealth Conference in assists with 14. She set a program record with five assists in a single game against Dickinson October 7, and her 14 assists in 2000 was the third-highest total in the 49 year history of the program.

Ewing finished her career with 28 assists, the second-highest total in program history. Her 45 goals scored were the ninth most ever scored by an Etown player, and her career point total of 118 was sixth-best in the history of the program.

She adds the title of Commonwealth Conference first team all-star to several other accolades she has already compiled this year. Ewing was named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-South Atlantic Region first team Monday, and she will go on to represent Elizabethtown College in the NFHCA North/South Senior All-Star Game, which will be held at Old Dominion University Saturday, November 18.

Ewing is an English education major with a minor in Spanish at Elizabethtown College. She is a three-time conference all-star and two-time regional All-American, and was named District II GTE Academic All-American in the spring of 2000.

Mindy Nace, a sophomore forward, had a breakthrough sophomore season for the Blue Jays in 2000, finishing fourth on the team in scoring with eight goals and 21 points despite struggling with injuries throughout the season and missing three games entirely. She also finished second on the team in assists with five.

Over the course of her two-year career, Nace has compiled ten goals and seven assists for 27 total points. She was also named to the NFHCA All-South Atlantic Region team Monday as a second team honoree. This season is the first time she has earned either conference or regional honors.

Nace is a biology and pre-medicine major at Elizabethtown College.

Beth Purcell, a junior forward, started all 20 games for Elizabethtown this season. Purcell was an offensive sparkplug for the Blue Jays as she tallied 12 goals and two assists for a total of 26 points. Her goal and point totals were the third-best on the team.

For her career, Purcell has scored 23 goals and has tallied nine assists for a total of 55 points. This season is the first time she has earned conference honors.

Purcell is an accounting major at Elizabethtown College.

The Elizabethtown College field hockey team finished the 2000 season with a 15-5 record and reached the semifinal round of the Commonwealth Conference playoffs. Although the team finished the season ranked 16th in the nation according to the final NFHCA poll, the Blue Jays did not reach the NCAA Division III tournament.