NIAGARA UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
EDISON, N.J. — The MAAC today announced five Niagara women’s lacrosse team members to its all-conference teams. Additionally, a program-record 14 members of the team were recognized for their achievements in the classroom with All-Academic honors.
Rachel MacCheyne (First Team Attack), Caroline Crump (Second Team Attack), Alexis Morales (Second Team Midfield), Alexandra Higgins (First Team Defense) and Meghan Howe (All-Rookie) were the five members selected to the 2018 honors lists.
MacCheyne was a unanimous pick after a stellar season up front. She finished second in the conference in goals (55), goals per game (3.24), points (72), points per game (4.24), shots (122) and shots per game (7.18). It is MacCheyne’s second consecutive first team selection.
Crump had hat tricks in half of Niagara’s games to end the season with 44 goals. Her most dominant performance came on Feb. 25 at Duquesne. The junior accounted for seven goals in the team’s 17-14 win over the Dukes. Crump was a second team pick in 2016, when she also was a member of the rookie list.
Morales accounted for 34 points (26 G, 8 A) and hit the scoresheet in 16 of the team’s games. Morales .712 shots on goal percentage was the third-best qualifying number on the team. It is Morales’ first all-conference selection since being named to the All-Rookie Team in 2016.
Higgins – another unanimous pick – finished her senior season by adding two more career records to her tally. Her 30 caused turnovers and 42 ground balls this season pushed her to 88 and 155, respectively, for her career. Additionally, she corralled 88 draw controls to expand her career mark, which she set as a junior. The 2017 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year is a repeat first-teamer, and was a second team pick in 2016.
Howe finished her first season with 22 ground ball pickups and 13 caused turnovers in 17 total appearances.
Niagara had five selections to All-MAAC teams in 2017, with Jillian Ford (Second Team Defense), Audrey Fithall (All-Rookie) and Lauren Paul (All-Rookie) joining MacCheyne and Higgins.
Niagara’s 14 MAAC All-Academic selections completed two semesters with a cumulative grade point average of at least a 3.20 on a 4.0 scale.
Samantha Brill (Senior, Psychology)
Bailey Collins (Junior, Education)
Hailey D’Hont (Junior, Marketing)
Alina Del Toro (R-Sophomore, Marketing)
Aubrey DeVeau (Sophomore, Biology)
Anna Donnelly (Sophomore, Political Science)
Audrey Fithall (Sophomore, Psychology)
Jillian Ford (Senior, Criminal Justice)
Alexandra Higgins (Senior, Marketing)
Alexandra Leo (Sophomore, Criminal Justice)
Rachel MacCheyne (Junior, Actuarial Science)
Mackenzie Molodetz (Junior, Accounting)
Lauren Paul (Sophomore, Accounting)
Shea Swartwout (Sophomore, Sport Management)
Niagara had nine players make the 2017 All-Academic Team.
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