2024 Women’s Lacrosse Season Preview - St. John Fisher University Athletics (2024)

Women's Lacrosse | 2/29/2024 4:05:00 PM

PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher University women's lacrosse team begins its 2024 season on Friday, March 1, against the University of Rochester. A season after reaching the third round of the NCAA Division III tournament, head coach Linda Michele's Cardinals open this campaign ranked No. 14 in the country in the IWLCA preseason poll and return 20 players this season from last year's squad, including nine starters.

Here's what you need to know about this year's team:

Last Season
Fisher was 17-3 last season, tying for the third-most wins in program history. After going 7-0 in the Empire 8 and winning the conference tournament with a 10-5 win against arch-rival Nazareth, the Cardinals entered the NCAA Division III tournament in the second round, where they beat Mount Union 14-3. The team saw its season come to an end in the next round, however, losing a heartbreaking 6-5 matchup at William Smith.

After the season, two Cardinals earned All-American honors from the IWLCA and five were named All-Region. Eleven Cardinals earned Empire 8 honors.

Sydney and Shannon, All-Americans
Midfielder Sydney Carpenter earned both First-Team All-American and First-Team All-Region honors in her sophom*ore year of 2023, while also earning the Empire 8 Tournament MVP and a spot on the Empire 8 First-Team. The Hilton grad tied for the team lead in goals (43) and led in assists (31), points (74), caused turnovers (27), and groundballs (53). Her 182 draw controls not only led the team and conference but also shattered the previous program record of 155.

Defender Shannon Foster, now a senior, was the Empire 8's Defensive Player of the Year last season en route to a Second-Team All-American and First-Team All-Region selection. Starting in all 20 games for the Cardinals, she finished with 43 groundballs and 26 caused turnovers, and also contributed an assist on the offensive side.

Regional Honorees
Sophom*ore defender Maddie Lowney returns after a freshman year where she was named Empire 8 Rookie of the Year and First-Team All-Region. She finished second on the team in groundballs (51) and draw controls (36) while causing 21 turnovers. In postseason play, she earned a place on the Empire 8 All-Tournament team.

Midfielder Hanna Kumpf earned Second-Team All-Region honors in her first season since transferring to Fisher, earning First-Team All-Empire 8 honors as well. Now a junior, she'll look to build on a 2023 season where she tied Carpenter for the team lead in goals (43) while placing fourth on the squad in points (51). In addition, she won 21 draw controls (tied for third on the team), had 15 groundballs, and caused seven turnovers.

More Top Returners
Junior midfielder/defender Ella Stewart earned a spot on the Second-Team All-Empire 8 list last season, when she played all 20 games and notched 32 groundballs and caused 18 turnovers.

Junior attacker Mary Fiorentino was Third-Team All-Empire 8 her sophom*ore season, scoring 29 goals (fourth-best on the team) with 28 assists (third-best) for a total of 57 points (third-best). In addition, she notched 32 groundballs and caused 10 turnovers.

Sophom*ore midfielder Kaley Griffin earned Third-Team All-Empire 8 honors her first year, scoring 18 goals with two assists for a total of 20 points. In addition, she had 15 draw controls, 15 groundballs, and caused eight turnovers.

Junior midfielder Farrah Zalla was an important player off the bench her sophom*ore year, coming in to play in 19 of her 20 games last season. Despite not starting the vast majority of her games, she still tallied 20 goals and two assists. Four of those goals came in the conference finals, earning her a spot on the Empire 8 All-Tournament team.

Finally, attacker Cara Landry returns for her senior year. In 2023, she played in 19 games, starting 10 of them while scoring 16 goals and racking up nine assists. The West Genesee native had 18 groundballs and caused 4 turnovers.

Conference Colossus
The Cardinals have won the Empire 8 in 11 of the last 12 seasons: the only time they didn't was 2020, when the majority of the season was canceled three games in due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No school other than Fisher has won a full-season Empire 8 championship in women's lacrosse since Stevens in 2011, and no non-Fisher school currently in the Empire 8 has won a title since Nazareth way back in 2006- when this year's freshman players were in diapers!

The team's postseason excellence extends to the regular season: St. John Fisher hasn't lost a conference game since an 11-4 loss to Stevens on March 31, 2018. They haven't lost a conference game to a team currently in the Empire 8 since a close 11-10 loss to Nazareth on April 12, 2017.

Games of Note
After an opening game at the University of Rochester, Fisher will head to Florida for two games as a spring trip before returning to New York on March 13 for a game against Hamilton College.

The Cardinals have a competitive out-of-conference schedule this season, with five opponents who made last season's NCAA Tournament: Christopher Newport (March 5, in Florida), Roanoke (March 7, in Florida), Cortland (March 20 in SJF's home opener), William Smith (March 27 in Geneva), and SUNY Geneseo (April 9 at home).

The game with William Smith will especially be of interest, as two of Fisher's three losses last season came to the Herons, including their defeat in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals are 9-10 all-time against William Smith.

The conference schedule begins on Friday, March 29, when the Cardinals host the Hartwick Hawks at Growney Stadium.

This year's annual faceoff with archrival Nazareth University is April 20 at home, the final scheduled home game of the regular season for the Cardinals.

The regular season ends on Saturday, April 27, at Sage College.

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