BUFFALO — The Canisius women’s lacrosse team has officially named three captains for the upcoming 2017 season announced Wednesday by head coach Scott Teeter. Redshirt senior Ashley Bull, along with junior’s Erica Evans and Nicole Nelson have been selected to lead the defending MAAC Champion Griffs.
“We are extremely proud to name Ashley, Erica and Nicole as our team captains,” said Teeter. “All three are great leaders and represent what the program is all about. Each has a tremendous skill set and lead by example both on and off the field. We have a great group of athletes this year and we look forward to the captains motivating and inspiring them to be the best they can be.”
Bull returns for her senior year after sustaining a season-ending injury in the team’s first game of the 2016 season. The midfielder was named to the All-MAAC first team from 2013 to 2015, while winning the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year award in 2014. During her 2015 campaign, Bull scored three goals in three separate games, while also recording a career-best 11 draw controls against Marist on Apr. 1.
Evans enters her junior year with high expectations after becoming the first Canisius women’s lacrosse player in program history to earn All-America honors last season, as she was voted to the IWLCA Third Team. Becoming the first two-time MAAC Midfielder of the Year, Evans earned regional All-America and all-conference accolades during her sophomore season. During the 2016 season, Evans set new school records with 91 points and 72 goals – topping the previous standards by 10 points and 13 goals. She led the Blue and Gold with 81 draw controls, 47 ground balls and 31 caused turnovers. The sophomore midfielder finished the year ranked fifth nationally in scoring and her 72 goals were third-best in the country, while also ranking second in goals per game (3.6) and sixth in points per game (4.55).
Evans, who also was named the 2016 Canisius Female Athlete of the year, helped lead Canisius to its fifth MAAC Championship in program history in May and was named the MAAC Tournament MVP after she set the program’s postseason record with nine goals in two wins over Fairfield and Monmouth.
Nelson begins her third season with the Blue and Gold as the anchor of the defensive unit. The junior was an integral part of the Griffs defense which ranked first in the MAAC a year ago in scoring defense, allowing 8.45 goals-per-game. Nelson set career highs and ranked second on the team in ground balls (35) and caused turnovers (17) during the 2016 campaign, while starting in all twenty games.
The three captains will lead a team that features 19 returning letterwinners from the Griffs 2016 MAAC Championship season.
from GoGriffs.com via IFTTT
