GANNON WOMEN'S LACROSSE PREVIEW

SEASON OPENER
Sunday, February 25: at Georgian Court, 12 p.m., at GCU Track & Field Complex | Lakewood, N.J.
LIVE VIDEO
LIVE STATS

HOME OPENER
Tuesday, March 5: vs. Daemen, 4 p.m., McConnell Family Stadium

PSAC OPENER
Wednesday, March 20: vs. IUP, 4 p.m., McConnell Family Stadium
 

ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon women's lacrosse team will open the season focused on taking a step forward in 2024, and the Golden Knights hope that progress will result in a PSAC playoff berth.

Coach Jennifer Pawlowski said the Golden Knights are determined to reach the postseason after a 4-13 season in 2023.

There are several reasons why Pawlowski's playoff goal could be a good possibility:

• The Knights return several talented offensive players, including leading scorers McKenna Woodworth (Horseheads, N.Y./Horseheads) and Caroline Stevens (Syracuse, N.Y./Liverpool).
• Gannon welcomes back senior Macy Hepditch (Waterloo, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic), who missed most of the 2023 season with an injury. She returns to lead a Gannon midfield that should be a team strength.
• The Golden Knights will have experience in goal with the return of Haleigh Manning (Milton, Ga./Cambridge) and Riley Finnegan (Oviedo, Fla./Oviedo).
• Pawlowski recruited a solid group of newcomers, including a high-scoring graduate transfer.
• The Golden Knights absorbed several close conference losses in 2023 and hope that more close games will go their way this year.

 

OFFENSIVE OUTLOOK

Gannon can be optimistic offensively because of the return of several top scorers.

Senior attacker Woodworth and junior midfielder/attacker Stevens tied for the team lead with 34 goals last season, and both return to the lineup.

Woodworth has been a consistent force on offense. She reached the 100-goal mark last season and enters the season with 114. She had 40 goals as a freshman and a sophomore before scoring 34 last season.

Stevens tied for the team lead with 13 assists and led Gannon with 47 points in 2023. She also paced Gannon with 81 draw controls and was among the team leaders with 22 groundballs. Stevens has 75 goals and 155 draw controls in two seasons.

Hepditch had a solid start to the season before suffering an injury in the sixth game. She had 10 goals and three assists to that point. She was coming off a 2022 season in which she scored 32 goals and had 14 assists for 46 points.

Her leadership will also be a positive for Gannon as she returns to the lineup.

Another offensive standout in the Gannon lineup this season could be newcomer Madyson Schwartz (Philadelphia, Pa./Franklin Towne Charter), who led Chestnut Hill College (Philadelphia) with 41 goals last season. She transferred to Gannon during the offseason.

Schwartz leads a group of newcomers that includes eight freshmen.
 

 
GETTING DEFENSIVE

Another reason for optimism comes from the goalie position, where Haleigh Manning (Milton, Ga./Cambridge) and Riley Finnegan (Oviedo, Fla./Oviedo) return.

Manning was the Golden Knights' only all-conference selection in 2023 when she was named to the All-PSAC West Second Team.   

The junior started 12 games in 2023 and finished with 118 saves, a .428 save percentage, and a 13.19 goals-against average.

Finnegan, a sophomore, started five games as a freshman and made 42 saves.

 
MORE EXPERIENCE

Gannon has several other players who saw substantial playing time in 2023. Charlie Hunter (Boston, N.Y./Hamburg) had 14 goals and 17 points as a freshman while playing in all 17 games and making 11 starts in the midfield.

Junior attacker Skyler Parsons (Reading, Pa./Exeter Twp.) also started 11 times and played in all 17 games. She had seven goals. Midfielder Angie George (Brecksville, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) played in every game and had nine goals as a freshman.

Kayla Thompson (Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford), Alexandra Kehrig (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport), Emma Uhrig (Waterloo, Ontario/Kitchener Waterloo Collegiate), Alyssa Lerch (Coraopolis, Pa./Moon Area), and Emma-Cait Cogan (Westerville, Ohio/Olentangy Orange) also return after seeing significant playing time in 2023.

Gannon will be without junior attacker Avrey Kiristis, who will miss the season with an injury. She made 16 starts as a sophomore and finished with 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists).

 



POSITIVE SIGNS

Gannon posted a pair of unforgettable wins last season. The Golden Knights rallied from a 13-9 deficit to defeat Lock Haven 14-13 at McConnell Family Stadium. Woodworth scored four of the final five goals as she finished the game with seven goals.

Later in the season, Gannon rallied to beat Mercyhurst 10-9 at Saxon Stadium.

The Golden Knights also had a couple of offensive outbursts in a pair of wins over Edinboro as they beat the Scots 20-4 and 23-4.

Gannon had one-goal losses to Daemen and Slippery Rock last year and had a two-goal loss D'Youville. The Golden Knights' staff of Pawlowski and assistant Sara Kilian hope to turn those type of outcomes around this year. The Knights will face Daemen in their home opener on March 5.