Women's Lacrosse picked to finish 7th in first MASCAC poll

2015 MASCAC Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll

Westfield, Mass.— The Bridgewater State Bears have been selected to win the 2015 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship as voted on by the coaches from around the league.

Bridgewater State collected five first place votes for 47 points. Last season, the Bears finished the regular season a perfect 6-0 behind MASCAC Player of the Year Taylor Clancy. Having lost Clancy to graduation, Bridgewater State will look to reigning MASCAC Rookie of the Year Melissa Renauld who tallied 64 goals and 21 assists and Lauren Geary who had 46 goals, 14 points and 110 draw controls to earn All-Conference accolades. 

Landing in second place with two first place votes for 42 points is Worcester State. The Lancers ended 2014 with five league victories. All-Conference duo of Kaila Chase and Jackie Connors return for Worcester State. Chase finished 2014 fourth in the conference with 56 goals while Connors was second in points with 86 and third in assists with 38. 

Westfield State claims the final first place vote for 40 points and the third place in the poll. Hitting the field again for the Owls is Stephanie Lenhardt. Last season, Lenhardt led the league in assists (52) while also netting 28 goals. Teammate Mimi Khampaeng returns in goal after leading the conference in save percentage (49) and fifth in saves (138). Both Lenhardt and Khampaeng were recognized as All-Conference honorees last year.

Sitting in the fourth spot with 30 points is Fitchburg State. Ali Laferriere is back for the Falcons after scoring the second most goals in the MASCAC last season (67) and tallying the most draw controls (146) to earn herself a spot on the All-Conference squad.

Salem State takes home the fifth slot on the poll with 24 points. First Team All-Conference member Kelsey Russell is back for the Vikings after scoring 33 goals with 16 assists, 62 draw controls and 56 ground balls.

Framingham State is next in sixth with 19 points. Returning for the Rams are the two leading scorers Jessica Graham and Nicole L'Heureux who both netted 13 goals last year.

Claiming the final two spots on the poll are MCLA with 12 points and Massachusetts Maritime with 10 points in seventh and eighth, respectively. Under head coach Maria Bartini, the Trailblazers look to start off strong during their inaugural season with women's lacrosse. The Buccaneers look to Janine Prokscha this season after finishing 2014 with 15 goals, six assists, 38 ground balls and 32 draw controls.

The MASCAC kicks off their 2015 schedule next week with non-conference play around the region.