WINTHROP, Mass. – Winners of three straight Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championships, Johnson & Wales University (RI) will look for its fourth consecutive GNAC team title in 2020 as the Wildcats open up the latest campaign on Wednesday, February 19 at Coast Guard. Saint Joseph's College is forecasted to place sixth this spring.
Last spring, Saint Joseph's posted a 9-8 overall record with a 7-4 mark in conference play. The Monks earned the #6 seed and opened the GNAC Tournament with a quarterfinal at third-seeded Lasell College. St. Joe's suffered a 13-7 year-ending setback at the hands of the Lasers, a loss that signaled the end of collegiate lacrosse for the program's three seniors.
The Monks return three of their top six scorers from last season, as senior Maddy Beaulieu (West Gardiner, Maine), junior Josie Ring (Newfield, Maine), and sophomore Logan Champlin (Alfred, Maine) after combining to net 81 goals last spring. Beaulieu scored 30 goals and led the team in assists (26) and points (56) during her junior campaign while Ring tallied 29 goals and 11 assists for 40 total points during a breakout sophomore season. Champlin added 22 goals and seven assists with 42 ground balls, 42 draw controls, and 20 caused turnovers as a freshman and figures to increase her all-around contribution in 2020.
Junior midfielder Liz Callahan (Scarborough, Maine) and junior defender Alexandra Belaire (Greene, Maine) are also back, as is starting goalkeeper Madelyn Nelson (Casco, Maine), who posted a .475 save percentage with a 10.27 goals against average and 123 saves in 12 starts as a freshman.
First-year Head Coach David Keenan takes the baton from former skipper Rupert Lewis, who led the women's lacrosse program for seven seasons before stepping down this winter. Keenan, who served as an assistant to Lewis for two seasons, brings a wealth of lacrosse knowledge and experience to the team and is a tireless recruiter.
The Monks open the 2020 campaign with a 7:00 PM home game versus Husson University on Friday.
After inheriting a 2017 Wildcats squad that won the GNAC Championship, third-year head coach Jessica Scannapieco has helped guide JWU to two more conference crowns, defeating Regis College, 14-5, a year ago after taking down Lasell University, 20-9, back in 2018.
Last spring, Johnson & Wales also made history with its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory – a 17-8 win over Morrisville State University – before falling to eventual NCAA Division III champion Middlebury.
In the annual GNAC preseason poll, JWU took home eight of the 12 first-place votes for 140 points to lead the way in the rankings, as voted upon by the league's head coaches. After opening on the road versus Coast Guard tomorrow, the Wildcats will be at home for a pair next week against Wheaton (Feb. 26) and MIT (Feb. 29).
Regis finished second in the poll just eight points shy of JWU, collecting the other four first-place votes to account for 132 points. The Pride went 10-1 in GNAC play last spring, falling only to JWU in the regular season en route to the league title game appearance, after going 7-3 the season prior in their first year as a full GNAC member under head coach Courtney Duggan.
The highly anticipated Regis/JWU regular-season matchup will have to wait all the way until Saturday, April 18 in Providence, R.I.
To round out the top-five teams in the ledger, Lasell took the third spot with 120 points, followed by Simmons University with 97 points and Colby-Sawyer College just off that pace with 96 points. Colby-Sawyer went an impressive 7-4 in league play last year in the Chargers' first year as a full GNAC member, before battling Simmons to a 10-9 overtime loss in the GNAC Quarterfinals.
The remainder of the poll included Saint Joseph's College of Maine (90 points), Norwich University (71), Emmanuel College (69), Albertus Magnus College (48), Rivier University (36), University of Saint Joseph (22) and Anna Maria College (15).
The 2020 GNAC Tournament will get underway with quarterfinal action on Saturday, April 25. The conference semifinals are slated for Tuessday, Apr. 28, with the highest remaining seed hosting the GNAC Championship on Saturday, May 2. The GNAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament will be at stake.
2020 GNAC WLAX Preseason Poll
1. Johnson & Wales (8) - 140
2. Regis (4) - 132
3. Lasell - 120
4. Simmons - 97
5. Colby-Sawyer - 96
6. Saint Joseph's Maine - 90
7. Norwich - 71
8. Emmanuel - 69
9. Albertus Magnus - 48
10. Rivier - 36
11. St. Joseph (CT) - 22
12. Anna Maria - 15
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
– #TheGNAC –
