(Lebanon, Ill., Feb. 28) – The No. 21 McKendree University women's lacrosse team is set to kick off the 2018 campaign this weekend as the team travels to Shawnee, Oklahoma for a non-conference contest Saturday at Noon against Oklahoma Baptist University.
The women's lacrosse team enters the season ranked 21
st in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) National Poll as they are coming off their 2017 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament championship and share of the regular season title.
Head coach
Melissa Gyllenborg looks to a young team this season as she returns for her fourth season after being named GLIAC Coach of the Year.
"We are very excited to begin competing this season," said Gyllenborg. "We are looking to build off our success from last season as we look forward to the challenge of our schedule and conference as we will face some national contenders."
Attack
The Bearcats return First-Team All-GLIAC attacker
Dana DiPasquale (St. Charles, MO/Barat Academy) who led the conference with 36 assists last season. Second-Team attacker
Paige Salthouse (St. Louis, MO/Ursuline Academy) returns as she was eighth in the conference in goals last season. Senior
Mia Fiore (Eureka, MO/Eureka High School) makes the move to attack this season after previously patrolling the midfield.
Midfield
All-GLIAC Honorable Mention
Hannah Sugarman (Holden, MA/Wachusett Regional) will look to fill the void left from All-American Victoria Lelo who produced 84 points and 124 draw controls for McKendree last season.
Emily Nelson (Deephaven, MN/Holy Family Catholic) makes the transition from attack to midfield as last season she produced 32 goals and 15 assists. Freshman
Sarah Hardin (Pacific, MO/Eureka) looks to make an impact in the midfield unit this season.
Defense
Taylor Hartwick (Bentonville, AR/Pattonville) will lead a young defense as she returns from last season's unit.
Katie Kruse (Dardenne Prairie, MO/Barat Academy) looks to have a breakout junior season while
Jess Morey (Loveland, OH/Loveland),
Mackenzie Bemis (Eureka, MO/Eureka), and
Mackinsey Hamer (O'Fallon, MO/Francis Howell Central) will help impact the defense in their freshman season.
Goalkeeper
Collin Patton (Wildwood, MO/Eureka) looks to fill the role of GLIAC Goaltender of the Year Amy Porta. Patton saw action in five games last season in the role of Porta's backup.
