Three Seniors Earn Pre-Season All-MAAC Honors
Fairfield University Women's Lacrosse has made the top spot in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Preseason Coaches' Poll, as voted upon by the league's nine head coaches and announced today by the conference office. The defending MAAC Champions garnered five first-place votes to top the poll for the first time since 2011.
With five of the nine first-place votes, the Stags collected 75 total points in the poll. Marist, which earned the top seed and hosting rights for last year's MAAC Championship, nabbed three first-place votes to lock up second place with 67 points. Canisius (64 points) and Monmouth (52) round out the top four teams on the preseason ledger. All four squads shared the MAAC Regular Season Championship in 2018 with identical 6-2 league records.
Individually, three senior Stags earned pre-season All-MAAC recognition: Megan Beach and Erin Mammele claimed two spots on the defense, and Kathleen Hulseman was selected in the midfield.
Beach was an All-MAAC First Team and All-ECAC Second Team defender for the Stags last spring. She picked up 28 ground balls and caused 14 turnovers in 19 games on the backline. Beach, who also handed out an assist in the Stags' MAAC Championship Semifinal win over Monmouth, was named to the MAAC All-Championship Team and earned a place on the MAAC All-Academic Team in 2018.
An All-MAAC Second Team selection in 2018, Mammele started all 20 games on defense last season and also continued to rewrite the Fairfield record books on the draw. She reeled in a single-game program best 11 draw controls on two occasions last spring as a part of her single-season record of 123 draw controls on the year. Mammele will enter her senior campaign already holding Fairfield's career draw control record with 217 to date. In addition to her accolades on the field, she is a MAAC All-Academic Team member.
Hulseman was also an All-MAAC Second Team honoree last spring and capped the campaign as the Most Valuable Player of the 2018 MAAC Championship. She scored 32 goals and ranked second on the team with 22 assists – the seventh-most in Fairfield history – to total 54 points in her junior campaign. Hulseman also picked up 30 ground balls and caused 13 turnovers.
The Stags open the 2019 season this Saturday, Feb. 9 with a noon clash at Holy Cross. The first of nine home games to be played on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium is set for next Wednesday, Feb. 13 with a 3 p.m. visit from UConn. The MAAC slate begins in Hamden on Wednesday, March 27 at Quinnipiac.
With five of the nine first-place votes, the Stags collected 75 total points in the poll. Marist, which earned the top seed and hosting rights for last year's MAAC Championship, nabbed three first-place votes to lock up second place with 67 points. Canisius (64 points) and Monmouth (52) round out the top four teams on the preseason ledger. All four squads shared the MAAC Regular Season Championship in 2018 with identical 6-2 league records.
Individually, three senior Stags earned pre-season All-MAAC recognition: Megan Beach and Erin Mammele claimed two spots on the defense, and Kathleen Hulseman was selected in the midfield.
Beach was an All-MAAC First Team and All-ECAC Second Team defender for the Stags last spring. She picked up 28 ground balls and caused 14 turnovers in 19 games on the backline. Beach, who also handed out an assist in the Stags' MAAC Championship Semifinal win over Monmouth, was named to the MAAC All-Championship Team and earned a place on the MAAC All-Academic Team in 2018.
An All-MAAC Second Team selection in 2018, Mammele started all 20 games on defense last season and also continued to rewrite the Fairfield record books on the draw. She reeled in a single-game program best 11 draw controls on two occasions last spring as a part of her single-season record of 123 draw controls on the year. Mammele will enter her senior campaign already holding Fairfield's career draw control record with 217 to date. In addition to her accolades on the field, she is a MAAC All-Academic Team member.
Hulseman was also an All-MAAC Second Team honoree last spring and capped the campaign as the Most Valuable Player of the 2018 MAAC Championship. She scored 32 goals and ranked second on the team with 22 assists – the seventh-most in Fairfield history – to total 54 points in her junior campaign. Hulseman also picked up 30 ground balls and caused 13 turnovers.
The Stags open the 2019 season this Saturday, Feb. 9 with a noon clash at Holy Cross. The first of nine home games to be played on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium is set for next Wednesday, Feb. 13 with a 3 p.m. visit from UConn. The MAAC slate begins in Hamden on Wednesday, March 27 at Quinnipiac.
