The Canisius women’s lacrosse team has been selected to finish first in this year’s MAAC preseason coaches’ poll, the league announced Tuesday evening. Chosen by the conference’s nine coaches, the Griffs were the unanimous preseason favorite garnering all 81 possible points with nine first place votes.
The coaches’ poll also selected junior midfielder Erica Evans as the unanimous MAAC Preseason Player of the Year, while also being tabbed for the Preseason All-MAAC Team. Joining the junior standout on the All-MAAC team were sophomore attacker Tessa Chad and junior goalkeeper Rebecca VanLaeken.
Evans, a Peterborough, Ontario native, helped lead Canisius to its fifth MAAC Championship in program history last May as she was named the MAAC Tournament MVP, setting the program’s postseason record with nine goals in two wins over Fairfield and Monmouth. The first two-time MAAC Midfielder of the Year, Evans also earned regional All-America and all-conference accolades during her sophomore season. During the 2016 season, Evans set new school record with 91 points and 72 goals – topping the previous standards by 10 points and 13 goals
A native of Orono, Ontario, Chad was selected as the 2016 MAAC Rookie of the Year and was also named to the Inside Lacrosse Women All-Rookie Team last May. The sophomore posted 38 goals during her freshman campaign, third most on the team. Of her 38 goals, a career-high four came in the team’s NCAA Tournament game at Cornell, and two other goals were game-winning tallies. She played in all 20 of the team’s games in her rookie season, where she made 18 starts and scored at least one goal in 16 different contests. Also named to the All-MAAC Second Team as a freshman, Chad marked the second-straight season that a Griff was named to the national all-rookie squad as Erica Evans earned the accolade following the 2015 campaign.
VanLaeken, a native of Canandaigua, N.Y, was named the Co-MAAC Defensive Player of the year in 2016, excelling during her first full season in net. The netminder ranked in the top 30 nationally in GAA (27, 8.26 GAA), ranking first in the MAAC in GAA, while having the second best GAA in school history. A 2016 All-MAAC First Team selection, VanLaeken ranked fourth in the MAAC in save percentage, while guiding the team to it best goals against average in school history (8.33). The vocal leader of the defense, the goalkeeper held teams to under 10 goals 10 times a season ago, while allowing five or fewer goals six times.
The Griffs, who finished the 2016 campaign with a 13-7 overall record to go with a perfect 8-0 mark in MAAC regular season play (the team’s second-straight undefeated MAAC regular season effort), will look to duplicate their success from a season ago when conference play opens March 25 at Manhattan.
The Blue and Gold’s 81 points in the coaches’ poll were 11 greater than 2016 MAAC runner-up Monmouth, who placed second in the poll at 70 points. Fairfield and Marist tied for third place with 57 points, while the annual poll was rounded out by Niagara (48 points), Siena and Iona (32 points), with Manhattan and Quinnipiac tied for last at 14 points.
from GoGriffs.com via IFTTT