Lacrosse to Open Season on Saturday

Saturday, February 16

Farmville, VA

1pm

George Washington University

Longwood

2/14/2019 11:15:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

Colonials kick off 2019 at Longwood

OPENING DRAW: The George Washington women's lacrosse team is set to open its 2019 season on Saturday when it heads to Farmville, Va., to face Longwood at 1 p.m.

GOODBYE GRADUATES: The Colonials graduated four seniors last spring and will look to its young roster to fill the spots left by former captain and leading scorer Jocelyn Donohue along with Camaryn Kerns, Brooke Sands, and Adele Wise.

Dohonue paced the team in scoring for the third straight season with a career-high 46 goals in 2018 and was a key starter on attack all four years. Kerns also had a career year for the Buff and Blue last spring, finishing the season ranked second on the team with a career-high 40 goals, registering multiple tallies in 14 of 17 contests and recording eight hat tracks. Completing the offensive trio is Sands, who helped lead the Colonials at the midfield position to their program-best 7-1 non-conference record before sitting out the entire conference season due to injury.

GW will also be without Wise, a fixture between the posts throughout her career. The Leonardtown, Md., native closed out her career ranking third in GW history with 283 saves and ranking fifth with 1,845 minutes played between the pipes.

ON THE ATTACK: With the loss of Donohue and Kerns on attack, GW will look to Ioanna Mantzouratos to support the squad. Mantzouratos made an immediate impact on the Colonials' offensive effort in her first season in the Buff and Blue, and finished the season ranked first on the team with 18 assists, a mark that ranks tied for first on GW's first-year records list, and fourth with 41 points and 23 goals. The A-10 All Rookie Team selection will get some support on the offensive end from a trio of junior starters in Morgan McDonnell, Christine Weber, and Caitlin Concannon.

Also joining the front line will be first-years Cora Broadhurst, Maddy O'Brien, and Kendall Lambert.

MORE IN THE MIDDLE: The GW midfield will feature a mix of returning and new players, highlighted by junior captain Caroline Kiernan. A mainstay on GW's midfield since her first season, Kiernan finished with 18 goals, 32 points, 21 ground balls and a team-high 53 draw controls in 2018. The Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., native also leads the Colonials off the draw with 100 in her career, a mark that ranks third in program history.

Assisting Kiernan in the middle will be Katie Quinn, a member of the 2018 A-10 All-Conference Second Team. Starting all 17 contests of her sophomore campaign, Quinn earned Second Team honors after tallying a personal-best 42 points on 28 goals and 14 assists, nearly tripling her point production from her rookie season (7g, 6a), while adding 13 ground balls, 30 draw controls and 11 caused turnovers.

Classmate Aidan Cage and sophomore Abby Carlin will join Quinn and Kiernan at the midfield position along with first-years Alana Greene and Tori Hampton.

DEPTH IN DEFENSE: The Colonials will rely heavily on a core of returners to anchor the team on the defensive end. Junior Posie Paoletta, a two-year starter, is back to lead the Colonial defensive unit after amassing a team-high 17 caused turnovers and 24 ground balls last season. Backing Paoletta will be fellow junior Caroline Esmond, who started all 17 contests last season and added 16 ground balls and 12 caused turnovers. Sophomores Cassie Scandalios and Michaela Bartley will also help the Buff and Blue on the defensive end after a strong 2018 season that saw Scandalios start 16 of 17 contests and pick up 31 ground balls, while Bartley saw action in 15 games and made six stats.

The Colonials will also lean on their first-year defenders Olivia Ouimet, Lauren Maline and Brynn Smith.

GREAT GOALTENDING: After a stellar first season in the Buff and Blue, Jenna Oler is poised to lead the Colonials between the pipes in 2019. As a first-year Oler, acquired a spot on both the A-10 All-Conference and All-Rookie teams after a standout freshman campaign where she made a GW program-record 207 saves in the cage. The Columbia, Md., native saw action in all 17 contests, made 13 starts, tallied 46 ground balls, caused six turnovers and boasted an 11.50 goals against average and an impressive .551 save percentage, a mark that ranks first in GW history. In addition, Oler topped the A-10 and ranked second nationally with her 207 saves and 12.8 saves per game.

Oler will see some competition for the starting GK spot by sophomore keeper Alexa Solomon and first-year netminder Megan Patrick.