WJU Season Preview -- Women's Lacrosse Opens Season Friday

By: Michael McDonald, Assistant Sports Information Director

Women's Lacrosse | 2/21/2017 11:48:00 AM

WHEELING, W.Va. – The Wheeling Jesuit women's lacrosse team is set to defend its 2016 Mountain East Conference regular season title. The Cardinals, who finished last season 12-6, return the reigning MEC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year.

WJU begins its 2017 campaign with a Friday, February 24 road trip to Seton Hill. First draw is set for 3:30 p.m.

Senior Elizabeth Hales returns from a record-setting junior season. Hales, an attacker from Orlando, Florida, finished last year with an MEC-best 103 points, 63 goals and 40 assists, and was later named the MEC Offensive Player of the Year.

Hales will be joined at the attack by fellow senior Paige Plesich (Columbus, Ohio) and junior Kori Hickman (Cincinnati, Ohio). Hickman finished her junior season with a team-high 52 assists to go along with 13 scores. Plesich scored 29 times and added 20 assists to finish with 49 points.

Ally Coggins (Mt. Airy, Maryland) returns for her sophomore year at the attack position while Hayley Holmquist (Temecula, California) enters her first year on the Cardinal roster. Coggins finished her first collegiate season with five goals and an assist.

The WJU midfield position will be led by two seniors - returning All-MEC second team member Mary Burns, a senior from New Stanton, Pennsylvania and Olivia Krock (Granville, Ohio), who earned All-MEC Honorable Mention as a junior. Burns ended last year with 20 scores, 26 points, and 36 draw controls while starting in all 18 games. Krock also started every game for the Cardinals while scoring 16 times and tying Burns with a team-leading 36 draw controls.

Coach Tim Florence joined Coaches Corner to talk about the upcoming season!

Junior Markie Wright (Murray, Utah) and sophomores Taylor Booth (British Columbia, Canada) and Kate Calder (Cincinnati, Ohio) look to bolster the Cardinals midfield. Wright found the back of the net 19 times, picked up 36 ground balls and won 29 draw controls. Booth played in 16 games, scored three goals, and added 14 draw controls. Calder saw action in 17 games, scoring eight times.

Holly Deckert (New Windsor, Maryland) the reigning MEC Defensive Player of the Year, looks to lead the experienced Cardinal defense. Deckert led the league with 49 ground balls and 31 caused turnovers a year ago while scoring four goals.

Juniors Brianna Wahle (Pataskala, Ohio) and Lyndsay Carpenter (Sacramento, California) both return from sophomore seasons where they started all 18 games. Carpenter earned All-MEC second team honors for her 40 ground balls, 13 caused turnovers and 12 draw controls while Wahle finished with 26 ground balls, 16 caused turnovers, and seven draw controls.

Taelor Mailloux (Brighton, Michigan) and Mia Gilardi (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) join Deckert as senior defenders. In her junior season, Mailloux started all 18 games and collected 20 ground balls. Gilardi scored twice in seven games and collected eight ground balls. Fellow junior Danielle Wheeler (Hilliard, Ohio) made five appearances as a sophomore. Sophomore Taylor Quigg (Chestertown, Maryland) made 17 appearances a year ago, resulting in two goals and 16 caused turnovers.

Sarah Artzer (Littleton, Colorado) and Eily Cogan (Westerville, Ohio) enter their first seasons as defenders on the WJU women's lacrosse team.

Senior Maire Austin looks to defend the Cardinals goal for one last season. The Hilliard, Ohio native started all 18 games for WJU as a junior, recording 110 saves and a 12-6 record. Freshman Renee Cline (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) looks to learn from Austin during her first year at WJU.

Follow all of the Cardinals action by visiting the WJU athletics page, www.athletics.wju.edu, and click on sports to find the women's lacrosse page.

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