STANDISH, ME – The Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team, ranked second in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference preseason poll, looks to notch another fine season under the guidance of second-year Head Coach Anna Gordon.
Last season the Monks went 10-4-1 overall and posted a 7-1 record in conference play en route to earning the #2 seed in the conference tournament. The team broke 17 program single-season records and stood as the only undefeated team in all of NCAA DIII Women's Lacrosse as of April 13th.
The Monks set new single-season records for wins, winning percentage (.714), goals (220) and ground balls (461) in 2010 and hosted the program's first postseason contest, a GNAC semifinal tilt against Norwich on April 21st. Also, St. Joe's ranked fifth in the country in ground balls per game (30.73).
If Saint Joseph's is to improve on last year's performance the squad will be doing so without the services of Lauren Hagerman, the program's all-time leader in points (207), assists (77) and draw controls (157).
The Monks coaching staff expects a strong corps of returners and a talented first-year class to help make up for the production that left with the 2010 graduating class and push the program to the next level, perhaps as soon as this spring.
Leading the way for the returning group is senior midfielder Alyssa Marchant (Wakefield, MA), the team's all-time leader in goals (153) and ground balls (138). With 176 points heading into her final collegiate campaign, Marchant is a lock to become the second Monks player to surpass the 200-point mark.
Other key returners include junior goalkeeper Taylor Allison (Pawtucket, RI), junior midfielders Amelia Santos (Beverly, MA) and Megan Cutter (Westbrook, ME), sophomore attacker Erika Waterhouse (South Portland, ME), and sophomore midfielder Danielle Cusack (Portland, ME/Deering).
Coach Gordon has high hopes for this year's freshman class, an impressive group led by attacker Macy Pagurko (Augusta, ME) and midfielders Rachelle Messuri (Atkinson, NH), Cassie Diplock (Augusta, ME), and Anneka Adame (San Diego, CA).
