Ithaca Favored Atop the Empire 8 Women’s Lacrosse Poll
Ithaca College earned 46 poll points, including four first place votes to lead the 2014 Empire 8 Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll. St. John Fisher College collected three top nods and 44 tallies, while Stevens Institute of Technology received the final first place vote towards 36 points in the annual survey of the league's head coaches.
Fisher won its second-straight E8 Championship with an 11-8 win over top-seeded Ithaca in the 2013 title game. The Cardinals captured the automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament and represented the E8 on the national stage.
Fisher and Ithaca began the season as two of the top teams in Division III as the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) ranked the Cardinals No. 17 and the Bombers at No. 18 in its preseason poll.
Who’s Back?
Ithaca went 12-6 overall in 2013 and was a perfect 7-0 in Empire 8 play. The Bombers had seven all-conference selections a year ago but only two return in addition to the Rookie of Year, Allison Runyon. Runyon ranked second on the squad with 31 goals and five assists for 36 points. Jenna Marchinetti anchored the Bomber defense that allowed just 8.11 goals-against per game. Starting every contest for Ithaca, she collected 22 ground balls, had 21 caused turnovers and won seven draws. Katie Long started each of Ithaca's 18 games and collected 22 ground balls and caused 12 turnovers.
Fisher, two-time defending E8 champions, finished the 2013 season with a 15-4 overall mark and appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history. Five players earned All-Empire 8 praise in 2013 return to the turf for the Cardinals. First-teamer Taylor Hughes led Fisher with 84 points and 32 assists while scoring 52 times in 2013. The defensive unit of Marykate Edmunds, Jill Zerrillo and Logan Barnard allowed just eight goals per game.
Stevens is coming off a 2013 season in which it went 8-10 overall, 4-3 in the Empire 8 and reached the semifinals of the Empire 8 Championship. A large freshman class has created a lot of depth in the program but the Ducks will look to midfielder Kara Rafferty and defender Amanda Ingersoll for consistent production on the field. Rafferty was an All-Empire 8 pick after a 2013 season that saw her finish with 80 points on 61 goals and 19 assists. Ingersoll is a two-time all-conference performer that had one goal, two assists, a team-high 29 caused turnovers and a team-high 44 ground balls in 2013.
Nazareth welcomes back Tara Prosak, reigning Empire 8 Goalkeeper of the Year. Prosak played in all 17 games for the Golden Flyers (9-8) in 2013 and amassed a conference-best 130 saves for a 9.10 goals-against average and a .522 save percentage. She will team up with first-teamer MacKenzie Haley to lead the defensive unit. Haley led the team with 40 ground balls and was second on the team with 17 caused-turnovers.
Utica returns four all-conference selections from the 2013 edition of the Pioneers that tied the program-record for wins in a single season with nine. As a team they registered 238 points, good for second all-time on the school's single season list, including 163 goals (third all-time). Jennifer Rogaski caused a career-high 20 turnovers to go along with 21 ground balls, and one goal in 15 games played. Offensively, Megan Kane netted a career-high 40 goals and added three assists en route to being named second-team All-Conference
Elmira’s roster features a talented group of freshmen, young returning players who contributed a lot last year, and five veteran seniors who hope to make the E8 Tournament. Second team all-conference honorees Rebecca Matturro and Ashton Hogan return to midfield for the Soaring Eagles. Matturro, finished second on last year's team in caused turnovers (33) and third in ground balls (43). Hogan finished second on the team in points (32) despite playing in only 13 games. Hogan was also the team leader in free-position goals, scoring on 5-of-7 opportunities.
Hartwick has plenty of veterans in the lineup, including the four top scorers, the starting goalkeeper, and a bulk of the defense from last season. She also welcomes eight talented freshmen ready to make an impact. Emily Jweid was an Empire 8 Second Team selection last year after firing in a team-best 27 goals and grabbing a team-high 69 draws. On the defensive end, honorable mention honoree Caroline Stanford led the team in ground balls (42) and tied for a team-high with 17 caused turnovers.
Kaitlyn Button and Ashley White return as the top two goal scorers for Alfred who combined to net 77 of the 125 goals on the season. Button had 36 goals and a team best 17 assists, while White finished with 41 goals, six assists and a team-best 51 draw controls. A key to Alfred’s success will be keeping injuries to a minimum as the Saxon roster features only 13 players.
The Highlanders begin their second year as an NCAA provisional member and will complete a full league schedule. However, games against the Highlanders will not impact conference records/standings. Houghton finished its inaugural season with a 1-12 record, defeating Hilbert College 14-13 and suffering three of the loses by only one goal. The big positive for the Highlanders moving forward is that the top four scorers from a year ago that accounted for 63 of the teams 71 goals return to the turf.
Coaching Changes
Hartwick is under new leadership in first-year head coach Jackie Rutkowski who arrives after stints with her alma mater Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Albion College.
Jessica Hurlbut, a former standout goalkeeper for the Saxon women’s lacrosse team, will lead Alfred University. Hurlbut was a starting goalkeeper for the Saxons for four seasons (2001-04) and will serve for the 2014 season while head coach Samantha Patton is out on leave.
Dates to remember
Conference play begins on Saturday, March 22, and this year's playoff schedule features two semifinal matches on Saturday, May 3 and the championship on Sunday, May 4 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.
2014 Empire 8 Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Coaches Poll
|
Ithaca (4 first place votes) |
46 points |
|
St. John Fisher (3) |
44 |
|
Stevens (1) |
36 |
|
Nazareth |
34 |
|
Utica |
22 |
|
Elmira |
19 |
|
Hartwick |
16 |
|
Alfred |
7 |