BOSTON, Mass. - The 2014 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll has been released and Saint Joseph's College has been predicted to finish third this season.
Guided by second-year Head Coach Amanda Cahoon, the Monks return 12 players from the 2013 squad, which went 11-7 overall and advanced to the GNAC Tournament Semifinals a year ago. All-Conference players Rachelle Messuri (Atkinson, N.H.), Macy Pagurko (Augusta, Maine), Cassie Diplock (Augusta, Maine) and Anneka Adame (San Diego, Calif.) are back for their senior season and hope to challenge for a conference title this spring.
Saint Joseph's is set to begin the new season with a GNAC contest at Albertus Magnus College on Sunday at 12:30 PM.
Lasell College, the defending GNAC regular season and tournament champion, has been tabbed as the Pre-Season favorites for the 2014 season, receiving eight first place votes as well as 115 total points in the voting process. Simmons College earned two first place votes and 106 points in second place with the other first place vote going to Norwich University.
The Lasers enjoyed a dominant season in 2013, sweeping GNAC play with a 9-0 mark before running the table in the conference tournament for the NCAA berth. Lasell will look to senior Britney Wuorio (Bolton, Mass.) to keep the success rolling in 2014. Wuorio was selected the 2012 & 2013 Offensive Player of the Year and led the GNAC in goals (84) and points (130) while ranking ninth in the nation in goals scored. As a team, Lasell averaged 16.84 goals per game to rank third overall among DIII Women's Lacrosse programs last year.
Simmons earns the second spot in the poll after an impressive run in the 2013 season that saw the Sharks fall by just one goal (15-14) in the 2013 GNAC Championship game. Simmons returns the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year, senior Seneca Martensson (East Longmeadow, Mass.), as well as two Second Team All-Conference selections in sophomore attack Stephanie Oliveri (Waltham, Mass.) and sophomore goalie Crystal Derosier (Kingston, Mass.).
The three, four and five spots in the poll were separated by a total of just three votes as Saint Joseph's College finished third with 87 points, followed by Norwich University in fourth with 86 points and then Emmanuel College in fifth with 84 points. The Monks will look to build off of an 11-7 campaign in 2013 while the Cadets are coming off a rebuilding year that saw them go 6-9 just one season after they dominated the action with a 14-2 mark in 2012. Emmanuel makes its highest appearance in the pre-season poll as the Saints will look to break into the top half of the league behind first-year head coach, Liz Goddard.
Rivier University rounds out the top half of the poll in sixth with 75 points. The Raiders will look to 2013 GNAC Rookie of the Year Elena Reilly (Braintree, Mass.) to lead them back to the GNAC playoffs.
Mount Ida College (49 points) and University of Saint Joseph (CT) (46 points) snagged the seventh and eighth spots in the Pre-Season Coaches' Poll followed by Johnson & Wales University in ninth. About to begin their first season of play, the Wildcats earned 32 points to finish just above Anna Maria College who earned 27 points in the 10th spot.
Albertus Magnus College rounded out the poll in 11th place with 19 points as the Falcons also look to embark on their first season of varsity competition.
2014 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Lacrosse Pre-Season Coaches' Poll
|
Rank |
Institution |
First Place |
Total Points |
|
1 |
Lasell College |
8 |
115 |
|
2 |
Simmons College |
2 |
106 |
|
3 |
Saint Joseph's College |
|
87 |
|
4 |
Norwich University |
1 |
86 |
|
5 |
Emmanuel College |
|
84 |
|
6 |
Rivier University |
|
75 |
|
7 |
Mount Ida College |
|
49 |
|
8 |
University of Saint Joseph |
|
46 |
|
9 |
Johnson & Wales University |
|
32 |
|
10 |
Anna Maria College |
|
27 |
|
11 |
Albertus Magnus College |
|
19 |
COURTESY OF GNAC SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICE
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
