Fairfield Selected as 2019 MAAC Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Favorites; Canisius’ Jourdan Roemer Named Preseason Player of the Year
Fairfield Selected as 2019 MAAC Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Favorites; Canisius’ Jourdan Roemer Named Preseason Player of the Year
Edison, NJ – Fairfield University has been named the preseason favorite to win the 2019 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Women’s Lacrosse Championship, as voted on by the league’s head coaches. Canisius College’s senior attacker Jourdan Roemer was named the 2019 Preseason Player of the Year.
Fairfield finished with a total of 75 points and five first-place votes. The Stags are the defending MAAC Champions after defeating Canisius College 14-10 in last year’s title game. Brenna Connolly, Brooke Gallagher, and Kelly Horning led the team in the win, each recording a hat trick. The Stags would go on to compete in the NCAA Tournament, where they would fall to No. 10 Loyola Maryland.
Three players from Fairfield were named to the Preseason All-MAAC team in defenders Megan Beach and Erin Mammele and midfielder Kathleen Hulseman. Beach was a member of the 2018 All-MAAC First Team as well as the MAAC All-Championship Team. She played and started in 19 games for the Stags, picking up 28 ground balls and forcing 14 turnovers. Mammele was a member of the 2018 All-MAAC Second Team, breaking her own program record by recording 123 draw controls last season. Hulseman was also selected to the 2018 All-MAAC Second Team, putting up 54 points for the Stags with 32 goals and 22 assists. She was also named the 2018 MAAC Championship Most Valuable Player.
Marist College was second with 67 points and three first-place votes. The Red Foxes, led by the 2018 BSN Sports Coach of the Year Jessica Wilkinson, hosted the 2018 MAAC Championship as the No. 1 seed, falling to runner-up Canisius in the semifinals. Four members of their squad were selected to the Preseason All-MAAC Team in attacker Samantha Mehalick, defender Logan Boyle, midfielder Hailey Wagner, and goalie Delaney Galvin.
Mehalick led the league last year in goals with 61, which earned her selection to the 2018 All-MAAC Second Team. Boyle was also selected to the 2018 All-MAAC Second Team as well as the 2018 MAAC All-Championship Team for her defensive efforts, leading the Red Foxes in forced turnovers with 19. Wagner, another 2018 All-MAAC Second Team selection, was voted to the Preseason All-MAAC Team as the At-Large selection. Last season, Wagner led the league with 8.76 draw controls per game. Galvin led the league in both save percentage (.535) and saves per game (12.31) while also placing fourth in the league with a 10.97 goals against average. She was named the 2018 MAAC Goalkeeper of the Year as well as the First Team All-MAAC Goalkeeper.
Canisius was picked third with 64 points. The Golden Griffins were runners-up at last season’s championship after defeating both Niagara University and Marist. 2018 marked the eight-consecutive year Canisius had made the championship game, picking up six titles in that span.
Attacker Jourdan Roemer was selected as the 2019 Preseason Player of the Year after being named the 2018 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year, pacing the league last season with 4.20 points per game. She was also a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-MAAC Team at attack. Defender Riley Lucarelli and midfielder Jen Reininger were also named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team. Lucarelli picked up 38 ground balls last season and forced 17 turnovers, while Reininger ranked fifth in the league with 2.75 goals per game and ninth with 3.25 points per game.
Monmouth University and Niagara placed fourth and fifth respectively in the poll, earning 52 and 51 points. The Hawks are represented by Nicole Ceraso on the Preseason All-MAAC Team, while the Purple Eagles are represented by Rachel MacCheyne and Alexis Morales. Ceraso led the Hawks in points last year with 59 and ranked second in the MAAC with 2.0 assists per game, earning her 2018 Second Team All-MAAC honors. Morales was able to put up 34 points on 26 goals and eight assists for the Purple Eagles last season. MacCheyne, a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-MAAC Team, was a 2018 First Team All-MAAC selection racking up 3.11 goals per game (third in the MAAC) and 4.17 points per game (second in the MAAC).
Rounding out the poll was Iona College in sixth place with 33 points, Siena College in seventh place with 24 points and one first-place vote, Quinnipiac University with 22 points, and Manhattan College with 17 points. Last season Iona made the postseason as the sixth seed, where they lost to eventual champions Fairfield in the first round.
The 2019 MAAC Women's Lacrosse Championship is a six-team championship played over two consecutive weekends. First round games are hosted by the No. 3 and No. 4 Seeds on Saturday, April 27. The semifinals and championship game are hosted by the No. 1 Seed on Thursday, May 2 and Saturday, May 4. For more information, visit
maacsports.com/wlax.
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
| Rank |
School |
Total Points |
| 1 |
Fairfield (5) |
75 |
| 2 |
Marist (3) |
67 |
| 3 |
Canisius |
64 |
| 4 |
Monmouth |
52 |
| 5 |
Niagara |
51 |
| 6 |
Iona |
33 |
| 7 |
Siena (1) |
24 |
| 8 |
Quinnipiac |
22 |
| 9 |
Manhattan |
17 |
Preseason All-MAAC Team
| Player |
School |
Position |
| Nicole Ceraso |
Monmouth |
Attack |
| Rachel MacCheyne |
Niagara |
Attack |
| Samantha Mehalick |
Marist |
Attack |
| Jourdan Roemer |
Canisius |
Attack |
| Megan Beach |
Fairfield |
Defense |
| Logan Boyle |
Marist |
Defense |
| Riley Lucarelli |
Canisius |
Defense |
| Erin Mammele |
Fairfield |
Defense |
| Kathleen Hulseman |
Fairfield |
Midfield |
| Alexis Morales |
Niagara |
Midfield |
| Jen Reininger |
Canisius |
Midfield |
| Delaney Galvin |
Marist |
Goalie |
| Hailey Wagner |
Marist |
At-Large |
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 38
th year of competition during the 2018-19 academic year. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.