STANDISH, Maine – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's lacrosse postseason accolades have been announced and seven Saint Joseph's College players have earned awards.
Grad student attacker Lydia Dexter (Oakland, Maine) has been selected as the GNAC Offensive Player of the Year and has claimed First Team All-GNAC honors along with sophomore Carson Battaglia (Gorham, Maine), who has been chosen as the 2022 GNAC Midfielder of the Year. Sophomores Bridget Collins (Milford, Conn.) and Erica Irvin (Windham, N.H.) have collected Second Team All-Conference accolades and junior Tara Powers (Tyngsboro, Mass.) and sophomores Cailyn Wesley (Peabody, Mass.) and Madison Scott (Cumberland, Maine) have earned Third Team acclaim.
Dexter earns First Team All-Conference honors for the second-consecutive season after recording the most prolific offensive season in the 15-year history of the Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse program. The seven-time GNAC Player of the Week led the conference in points (155) and assists (75) and ranked second in shots (167), third in shots on goal (129) and ground balls (78), and fourth in goals (80).
In her third season as a member of the lacrosse program, Dexter established new SJC records for goals, assists, points, points per game (7.75), and assists per game (3.75). She also shattered the GNAC single-season points record (previously 130 points) and now owns the Monks' career records for assists (115).
As of May 9th, Dexter leads NCAA DIII Women's Lacrosse in points, ranks fifth in assists and points, seventh in assists per game (3.75), and 14th in goals. In just 44 career games, she has tallied 129 goals and 115 assists totaling 244 points with 126 ground balls, 90 draw controls and 46 caused turnovers. Dexter broke the program's career assists record this season and currently ranks second all-time in points and sixth in goals scored.
Battaglia, a 2021 Third Team All-GNAC selection, earns First Team All-Conference and GNAC Midfielder of the Year accolades after netting 40 goals with seven assists, 43 ground balls, 134 draw controls and 14 caused turnovers. Her 2022 draw controls total leads the conference, ranks eighth in NCAA DIII Women's Lacrosse, and shattered the program's single-season record – previously held by Anneka Adame '14 who tallied 113 in 2013.
Battaglia is currently third on the team in goals, fourth in points, and fifth in ground balls.
Collins claims her first career All-Conference honor after registering 54 goals and 12 assists for 66 points with 33 ground balls and eight caused turnovers in 20 contests this spring. She is second on the team in goals and points and ranks eighth in the GNAC in goals scored.
Irvin collects Second Team All-Conference honors for the second time in as many seasons after helping lead the GNAC's top-ranked defense as a sophomore. She tallied two goals and an assist with 27 ground balls, nine draw controls and 16 caused turnovers while helping the Monks post the fourth-best scoring defense (5.70) in the nation.
Powers, a junior defender, earns her first All-Conference nod after picking up 25 ground balls with 19 caused turnovers while shutting down the opponents' top offensive players.
Another first-time All-Conference honoree as a sophomore midfielder, Wesley claims Third Team All-GNAC accolades after netting 38 goals with 11 assists for 49 total points with 45 ground balls, 54 draw controls, and 15 caused turnovers this spring. She heads into the NCAA Tournament ranked second on the team in draw controls, third in points, and fourth in goals and ground balls.
Scott earns Third Team All-Conference honors after tallying two goals and two assists with 34 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers as a sophomore defender. She is currently ranked second on the squad in caused turnovers and seventh in ground balls.
Under the watch of third-year Head Coach David Keenan, the Monks posted a perfect 17-0 regular season and claimed the second GNAC Championship in team history after defeating Elms College (20-4) in a quarterfinal matchup, Emmanuel College (12-7) in the semifinal round, and reigning four-time conference champ Johnson & Wales University (10-9) in the GNAC title bout at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday, May 7th.
One of just four undefeated teams in NCAA DIII Women's Lacrosse (as of May 9th), Saint Joseph's goes into the first round of the NCAA Tournament ranked fourth in the country in scoring defense (5.70), seventh in ground balls per game (29.25), eighth in scoring margin (11.50) and shots per game (36.90), and 12th in scoring offense (17.20) and shots on goal per game (28.30).
