Christian Arnold
Assistant Sports Editor
The LIU-Post Pioneers women’s lacrosse team capped off a successful 2012 season by defeating West Chester University of Pennsylvania 17-16 in the National Championship game.
Under head coach Meghan McNamara, the Pioneers finished off the regular season with a 14-3 record. During the Championships, the Pioneers defeated Adelphi at Hickox Field by a score of 14-11. From there, the Pioneers traveled down to Louisville, Kentucky and beat LeMoyne College 15-10 to advance into the finals. In the National Championship Game, the Pioneers won a nail-biter 17-16 in a game where the Pioneers started off quickly, but managed to hold off West Chester for the title.
It was the program’s third Division II National Championship. LIU Post is one of only two Division II schools to have won at least three national championships. The Pioneers last championship occurred in 2007 under then head coach Karen MaCrate Henning. Ironically all three national title victories have come against West Chester.
During the off-season, several members of the Pioneers were honored with nominations to All-American teams and All-star teams, along with receiving several awards.
Jackie Sileo, now a junior, was named national player of the year by the IWLCA and was named to the All-American First Team. She was also named Attacker of the Year by Synapse Sports. Since arriving at LIU-Post, Sileo has been one of the Pioneers most potent scorers. She set an LIU Post single-season record with 45 goals and 96 assists during 2012. She also set an NCAA Championship record for points in the tournament, with 17, and points in a championship game, with nine. Sileo also received ECC Player of the Year honors.
In addition, Pioneers junior goalie Dominique Mosca was named National Player of the Year by the IWLCA and made the All-American First team. Mosca was ranked in the top-10 in goals-against average and save percentage, and was ECC Goalkeeper of the Year.
Senior midfielders Chelsea Donaldson and Lauren Spagnoletta, as well as junior attacker Ashley Olen were also named by the IWLCA to All-American First team.
Additionally, Donaldson was named as a National Player of the Year and selected to play in the North-South Senior All-Star Game, along with Spagnoletta and senior midfielder Nan Mayott.
On July 23rd, the New York Mets honored the Pioneers during a pregame ceremony at Citi Field. The team had the chance to stand on the field and be featured on the Diamond Vision video board.
LIU-Post also honored the team at halftime during Saturday’s season opening football game against Clarion University. Prior to that, the team received their National Championship rings at a morning breakfast.
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