Empire 8 Announces 2024 Women's Lacrosse All-Conference Teams and Yearly Awards - St. John Fisher University Athletics (2024)

Women's Lacrosse | 5/6/2024 10:09:00 AM

HILTON, N.Y. – Several members of the St. John Fisher University women's lacrosse team earned end-of-season honors on Monday from the Empire 8 conference, including the Offensive Player of the Year award for junior midfielder Sydney Carpenter and the Defensive Player of the Year award for sophom*ore defender Maddie Lowney. The team's coaching staff, led by head coach Linda Michele, was also honored.

Beyond the top awards, seven Cardinals earned spots on the Empire 8 All-Conference teams: five on the First Team and two on the Second Team.

Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year and All-Conference First Team
Junior Sydney Carpenter earned Offensive Player of the Year honors for the second time in her college career after leading the Cardinals in goals (42), assists (26), and points (68) during the regular season. She finished the regular season second in the conference in assists per game (1.63) and tied for second for points per game (4.25). Playing against conference foes, she was even better: she led the Empire 8 in 6.17 points per conference game and is second in both goals per conference game (3.67) and assists per conference game (2.50). Carpenter previously won Offensive Player of the Year in 2022.

Carpenter also earned a place on the Empire 8 All-Conference First Team for the third straight season- she's made it every year she's been playing.

Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year and All-Conference First Team
Sophom*ore defender Maddie Lowney became the third Cardinal in history to win the Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year award, following in the footsteps of Shannon Foster (2023) and Molly Tice (2019). This season, the Maryland native led Fisher with 33 caused turnovers and 50 ground balls won. She placed third in the conference in caused turnovers per game (2.06) and ground balls per game (2.06), and sixth in draw controls per game (4.00). Lowney was a key part of a Fisher defense that allowed only 116 goals all year: the lowest in the conference.

This is Lowney's second straight season on the Empire 8 First Team. She also earned a spot on the team last season, her freshman year, when she also earned the conference's Rookie of the Year honor.

Coaching Staff of the Year
Head Coach Linda Michele and her staff won Coaching Staff of the Year honors for the fourth straight season and the fifth time in the program's history (Shannon McHale's staff won in 2007). The Cardinals have won the Empire 8 tournament and made the NCAA Championship bracket every year since Michele took over in 2012 (with the exception of the 2020 season, which was canceled only three games in due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and this season finished undefeated in conference play. Michele was assisted this campaign by offensive coordinator Mark Michele and goalkeeper coach Alexis Bower.

Empire 8 First Team
Junior attacker Hanna Kumpf finished second behind Carpenter in the team leaderboard for points (41) and goals (27), as well as third in assists (14). She also placed in the Empire 8 top 10 for points per game (2.73). On April 20, she had the team's best points per season of the season, scoring eight against arch-rival Nazareth. This is the Victor native's second straight appearance on the First Team.

Sophom*ore midfielder Kaley Griffin placed third in goals (26) and fourth in points (34) for the Cardinals this regular season, while also notching eight assists. Her best game of the season came on April 13 against Utica, when she scored three goals and notched two assists. This is her second All-Conference honor, after earning a spot on the Empire 8 Third Team last season.

Senior defender Shannon Foster, last season's Defensive Player of the Year, again was stellar as part of a Cardinals defense that allowed a conference-low 116 goals this regular season. The Syracuse native played all 16 games this season, finishing third on the team in ground balls (25) and draw controls (33) and fourth in caused turnovers (13). This is Foster's fourth straight appearance on an Empire 8 All-Conference team. Previously, she's been on the First Team twice (2023 and 2021) and Second Team once (2022).

Empire 8 Second Team
Junior attacker Mary Fiorentino earned her second-straight All-Conference team honor (Third Team in 2023) with a season where she placed second on the team in assists (19), third in points (37), and fifth in goals (18). Her 1.19 assists per game were sixth-best in the entire Empire 8. The New Hartford graduate had a season-high five points on March 16 at Oswego, scoring two goals and three assists.

Junior defender Ella Stewart earns Second Team honors after a season where she caused 16 turnovers- the third-best on the team. The Selkirk native also pulled up 15 ground balls, fifth-best among the Cardinals. Stewart previously earned Second Team honors in 2023.

Empire 8 Sportswoman of the Year

Senior Cara Landry earned Fisher's spot for Sportswoman of the Year. The Empire 8 Conference emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. Cara and the honorees from other teams have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.

Stay up-to-date with the latest news, scores, highlights and more by downloading the official mobile app for Fisher Athletics. Just search SJF Athletics in the App Store or on Google Play and download today for free. Follow the Cardinals on social media for more! Twitter | Instagram