The St. John Fisher College men’s and women’s lacrosse programs are both ranked in the top 25 in two different polls, entering their 2010 campaigns.
The women’s team starts the season ranked 16th in the Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Poll and 18th in the IWLCA Division III Preseason Poll. Last year, the Cardinals (11-7) won the Empire 8 Conference Championship for the second time in three years, earning a berth in the NCAA Division III Championship. After defeating College of Wooster 17-12 to advance to the “Sweet 16”, the Cardinals bowed out at the home field of the eventual Division III Champions in the second round.
This year’s team returns its top six scorers from last year, led by senior attacker/midfielder
Lauren Glavin, who is coming off a junior season where she totaled 51 goals, 27 assists and 78 points, all of which are Fisher single-season records. For her career, she ranks first at Fisher in assists (60) and second in both goals (139) and points (199).
Glavin will be joined by senior Ashley Fenyn (35 goals, 21 assists), junior Courtney Clare (41 goals, 8 assists), junior Meg Merriam (41 goals, 6 assists), junior Mary Stimson (26 goals, 20 assists) and senior Trish Scudder (26 goals, 11 assists), making for a very potent offensive attack.
The defense will be led by senior goalie
Vicki Sahm, who was the Empire 8 Championship MVP last year and has played every minute in goal the last two seasons.
This season, Fisher will face four preseason ranked opponents in their out-of-conference schedule, including No. 4 Hamilton, No. 9 Union (9), No. 14 William Smith and No. 17 Roanoke. Fisher will also play nationally-ranked conference rival Stevens Institute of Technology.
The men’s team starts the season ranked 20th in the Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Poll and 23rd in the USILA Division III Preseason Poll.
Last year, the Cardinals set a new record for wins (the third straight year they have accomplished this feat), finishing with a 15-3 record. After knocking off Stevens in Empire 8 Conference Championship semifinals, Fisher’s season came to an end at home in the Empire 8 title game.
Much like the women’s team, Fisher returns seven of its top scorers from last year. This year’s team is led by senior attackers
Dave Malone, who scored 27 goals and had 36 assists to lead the team in points with 63, and
Chris Schmidt, who led the team with 44 goals. All-Conference midfielders
Jeff Price and
Ryan Schmidt are also back. The defense is led by senior goalkeeper
Jon Cortina, who has been Fisher’s starting goalie each of the last two years.
The Cardinals will play four nationally-ranked teams during the regular season – No. 14 Ithaca, No. 14 Nazareth, No. 21 Stevens, and No. 22 RIT – all of which compete in the Empire 8.
The women open their season in Orlando, Florida on March 3rd when they face Roanoke at 11 a.m. and have their first home game on March 23rd as they face No. 14 William Smith at 4:30 p.m.
The men open their season in Greensboro, North Carolina on the campus of Guilford College as they take on York College at 1 p.m. and have their first home game on March 13th as they face Clarkson at 2 p.m.