High Point, NC - Conference Carolinas women’s lacrosse
head coaches voted Limestone number one
for the sixth consecutive year. A 17-2 record, fifth straight
league regular season and tournament championships and a fifth
consecutive NCAA Division II Tournament appearance once again have
Limestone College women’s lacrosse as the preseason favorite
in the Conference Carolinas preseason poll.
Junior attack Sarah Oor shattered the program’s single
season assist record with 56 (the previous mark was 41) and is now
third all-time with 85 after just two seasons. No stranger to
finding the back of the net herself, she also added 34 goals, good
for fourth on the club, and finished with 90 points, just one shy
of tying the program’s single season mark.
The other offensive minded First-Team All-American back from a year
ago is reigning Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year,
sophomore attack Sam McCarrick. In just her first year of
collegiate lacrosse, McCarrick played in all 19 games, starting 18,
and delivered the second-most goals on the team with 40, added 10
assists for 50 points and had 28 groundballs, 27 draw controls and
nine caused turnovers. On the defensive end, Limestone returns 2011
IWLCA First-Team All-American senior goalkeeper Rashelle McLellan
and senior defender Skylar Marcoux, a 2012 IWLCA Second-Team
All-American.
McLellan, after missing time due to injury a year ago, is set to
regain her 2011 form in which she started all 20 games and posted a
7.28 goals against average (ranking fourth in the nation), .534
save percentage (second in the country) and led the Saints to the
2011 NCAA Division II National Championship Game, finishing with an
18-2 record. That season she was also named a
USACOLLEGELACROSSE.com and Synapse Sports Second-Team All-American
and IWLCA All-Region First-Team selection.
For the fourth-straight season, Pfeiffer
University has been selected second in the annual
coaches’ poll. The Falcon team has been picked to finish
second in the annual Conference Carolinas preseason coaches’
poll after a 9-8 season in 2012. Senior Shannon Bonnel will return
for her final campaign leading the offense after starting all 17
matches with a 46-goal, 16-assist outing a year ago racking up 56
points.
In addition to Bonnel, sophomores Kristi Korn and Sarah Daly
will join Bonnel on the front line to help lead the Lady Falcon
offense. Korn found the back of the net 26 times last season adding
eight assists while Daly scored 22 while helping on 12. Junior
Katherine Athens will help control the midfield area scoring 14
goals a season ago while both goalkeepers return in Jamie Alcala
and Rachel McCarthy. Alcala made 12 starts a year ago with 93 saves
in 656 minutes while McCarthy turned away 51 shots in 372
minutes.
In addition to Wilson, Pfeiffer brought in six newcomers for
2013 while returning four first team all-conference selections
(Athens, Bonnel, Laura Shea and Britton Muir) while Athens and
Bonnel each racked up postseason award as IWLCA All-Region team
members for the South Region.
Despite losing three all-conference team members to
graduation, including 2012 Conference Carolinas Player of the Year
Brittany Philip, the Queens University of
Charlotte Royals remain a top contender in the hunt
for a conference championship. Midfielder Brittany Barnwell, who
netted 44 goals last season, will be expected to continue her
aggressive play on the field, leading Queens’ offense. On the
defensive end, goalkeeper Danielle Horoschak and defender Akasha
Kasper, a 2011 all-American, will be looked upon to lead on the
defensive end of the field. Senior defender Allie Rhodes also
returns after leading the team with 36 caused turnovers in
2012.
Rounding out the women’s lacrosse preseason poll 4-7
was: Belmont Abbey, Erskine,
Converse, Mount
Olive and Lees-McRae respectively.
Conference Carolinas Pre-Season Coaches Poll
(First place votes in parentheses)