Fisher Favored Atop the Empire 8 Women’s Lacrosse Poll
ROCHESTER, NY -- Twenty-six all-Conference selections are back and a new member joins the league as the teams are ready to engage in a two-month battle for the Empire 8 title.
Two points separated first and second in the preseason coaches’ poll, but it was St. John Fisher who received five first-place votes and 46 points to claim the top spot narrowly edging out Ithaca (44 points and two-first place votes).
Stevens Institute of Technology also picked up a first place vote en route to totaling 39 points and a third place ranking. Utica College and Nazareth were only divided by one point to determine fourth and fifth place. Elmira College, Hartwick College and Alfred University completed the poll.
Who’s Back?
The Cardinals are already receiving national recognition as they are ranked 17th and 18th in the IWLCA and Laxmagazine.com preseason polls, respectively. Fisher finished the 2012 season with a College-record 15 wins and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 where they fell to eventual national runner-up Salisbury University. Fisher earned an automatic bid to NCAAs by winning the Empire 8 Conference Championship for the third time in six years.
Fisher returns all but two of its starters from last year and its top-six scorers, including Taylor Hughes who posted a College record 102 points last year and All-American Melissa Leonhard who finished the year with 79 points on 66 goals and 13 assists.
Ithaca, ranked 20th in the IWLCA preseason poll, went 13-4 overall in 2012 and was a perfect 7-0 in Empire 8 play. The Bombers fell to Fisher, 9-7, in the Empire 8 Championship Tournament title game. Five Bombers who earned All-Empire 8 praise in 2012 return to the turf in 2013 included Player of the Year, Tracy Rivas, and Goalie of the Year, Jess Worthman.
Stevens is coming off a 2012 season in which it went 10-7 overall, 5-2 in the Empire 8 and reached the semifinals of the Empire 8 Championship. It was the sixth-straight season the Ducks won at least 10 games. Spencer Waybright, a three-time All-Conference honoree, finished the 2012 campaign with 55 points behind 34 goals and 21 assists, while scooping up 35 ground balls. Amanda Ingersoll, reigning Rookie of the Year, helped the Ducks hold conference foes to less than six goals per game last season. She started 16 games for Stevens and was second on the team in both caused turnovers (24) and ground balls (40).
Utica had four student-athletes honored by the E8 last season but defender Megan Kane is the only returning All-Conference selection. Kane was named to the First Team after starting all 15 games in her rookie season and leading the Pioneers to a program-best goals against average (8.23) per game. Kane scored 16 goals, scooped up 42 groundballs and caused 20 turnovers. Utica tied the program record for most wins in a season with eight.
Nazareth welcomes back Second Team All-Region and First Team All-Conference selection Alyssa Johnston who led the Golden Flyers in scoring with 51 points on 40 goals and 11 assists. Johnston will team up with three returning second-team All-Conference selections and one honorable mention pick as Nazareth battles for a spot in the postseason tournament.
Elmira (8-8 overall) is coming off one of its more successful seasons in recent history improving its win total by three from the previous season. However, the Soaring Eagles will have a few voids to fill due to graduation. Elmira returns two E8 honorable mention picks, Rebecca Matturro and Marissa Mongillo. Matturro was Elmira’s leading defender as she finished with 50 ground balls, 16 draw control wins and 26 caused turnovers. Mongillo totaled 18 points, 39 groundballs and 33 draw controls in her first season.
Hartwickt will look to improve its conference win total and move up in the standings. The Hawks don't have any return all-conference selections and will be a young squad but will look to attack Meg Luce and defender Kiersten Racela for leadership on and off the field.
Four of the top five goal scorers return for the Alfred who combined to net 103 of the 143 goals on the season, including honorable mention players Kaitlyn Button and Ali Garcia. Button had a team best 34 goals to with 10 assists, while Garcia finished with 32 goals, 12 assists and a team-best 42 groundballs.
What’s New?
Houghton College will begin its inaugural season in 2013. The Highlanders are not playing a full league schedule; therefore games against Houghton will not impact conference records/standings. Head Coach Rachael Snelgrove is committed to building the program and laying the groundwork.
Dates to remember
Conference play begins on Saturday, March 29, and this year's playoff schedule features two semifinal matches on Saturday, May 4 and the championship on Sunday, May 5 with the highest seed the tournament.
Follow Online
If you can’t make it out to the game be sure to check if Live Stats are available or better yet the game may be web streamed courtesy of EzStream. Be sure to check out the schedule of streamed events by visiting
empire8.tv.
A closer look
For more information, visit any of the participating schools' websites or go to the Empire 8 home on the Internet at
www.empire8.com. Don't forget to become a fan of the Empire 8 on
Facebook and follow
@Empire8 on Twitter.
2013 EMPIRE 8 WOMEN'S LACROSSE PRESEASON POLL
|
St. John Fisher (5 first place votes) |
46 points |
|
Ithaca (2) |
44 |
|
Stevens (1) |
39 |
|
Utica |
28 |
|
Nazareth |
27 |
|
Elmira |
17 |
|
Hartwick |
15 |
|
Alfred |
8 |