HARROGATE, Tenn. – The LMU women's lacrosse team opens up their third season of competition this weekend as they travel to Shorter for a Saturday 1 p.m. meeting with the Hawks.
The Lady Railsplitters are looking to improve on last season's campaign, which saw them triple the number of wins from their inaugural season and take several well-established teams to the wire. Another goal is to take the next step and not only be competitive in the South Atlantic Conference but make the SAC Tournament for the first time in program history.
The team returns three of their top four scorers from last season, including top scorer and preseason All-SAC team member
Amara Moss (Woodbridge, Va.). Last season Moss had a team-high 36 goals and dished out five assists. She also had 22 ground balls and is the top returning draw controller as she won 49 draws last season.
Jasmin Click (Clermont, Fla.) scored 22 goals and had eight assists last season while picking up 36 ground balls, causing 21 turnovers and winning ten draws.
Casey Kelly (Ellenwood, Ga.) had 15 goals and led the team in assists last season with 15. She was also second on the team in ground balls with 40, won 27 draws and cause 20 turnovers.
Goalie
Shannon Novak (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) returns to anchor the defense for a third season. Last season she led the team in ground balls (58) while compiling 127 saves.
Melissa Saganich (Clinton, Tenn.) is another key returner on defense. The preseason All-SAC team member had 23 ground balls and caused eight turnovers last season.
Mia Blyden (Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands), Makenzie Edds (Maynardville, Tenn.) and
Jeni Schorling (Westerville, Ohio) are all experienced players who return on defense.
Coach
Caitlyn Corace has brought in some much needed depth this season in seven new players. Youth is still a factor as 11 of the 17 players are freshmen or sophomores.
Heather Roche (Vero Beach, Fla.),
Kennedy Buechner (Stafford, Va.) and
Zoe Zervos (Ithaca, N.Y.) are all newcomers whom Coach Corace believes will bring depth and new energy to both the attack and midfield.
The schedule is road-heavy early this season with five of the first six games on the road before the team returns to the LMU Lacrosse Complex for seven of their last nine contests. In addition to the tough South Atlantic Conference schedule, non-conference matches with local rivals UVa-Wise, Shorter and Lee in addition to Alabama-Huntsville are also highlights on the schedule.
Shorter enters the game with a 1-0 record after defeating Point University 19-1 on Wednesday. Live stats are available for the contest and can be found at the link above or at www.lmurailsplitters.com.
