Women’s Lacrosse Ready to Play

Heather Norris

“Success,” LIU Post Women’s Lacrosse Head Coach Meghan McNamara said when asked to describe the team’s biggest goal for the 2012 season.

The team finished its 2011 campaign with a 13-4 record, which proved not enough to earn the team a playoff berth. This was the first time the team did not make the postseason since 2005. “We gained a lot from last year’s experience,” McNamara said. “We were left with unfinished business.”

The Pioneers were ranked third in a February 28th IWLCA poll, behind Le Moyne and perennial powerhouse and 2011 champion Adelphi. The team was also given the top position in the East Coast Conference’s preseason coaches’ polls, which also selected senior defender Chelsea Donaldson as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

Although the team lost four seniors in 2011, McNamara says she is not concerned. “We lost a great class,” she said. “But, the returners worked really hard in the offseason.”

These returners include key players like Donaldson, senior midfielder Lauren Spagnoletta, and 2011 ECC Rookie of the Year attacker Jackie Sileo, each of who was named IWLCA All-American in 2011, and 2010 All-American attacker Ashley Olen, who missed the 2011 season due to injury. The team will rely heavily on every player on the team in 2012, McNamara said. “We have a very balanced team…Everyone is an asset,” she stated, adding that the team has a great senior class along with strength all over the field.

“We’re excited for a good year,” the fifth-year Head Coach said.  After dominating Saint Anselm 16-5 in the team’s home opener on Friday, March 2nd, the Pioneers look strong. Their next test will come on March 11th, when the women host Southern New Hampshire at home on Hickox Field at noon.