Women's Lacrosse Eyes Another NEC Championship; Season Opener Tuesday At Villanova

Villanova, PA – A Northeast Conference (NEC) title-hungry Wagner College women's lacrosse team opens its 2021 season Tuesday, February 23, on the road against the Big East Conference's Villanova Wildcats.

Live stats can be followed here.

Wagner All-Time vs. Villanova

The teams met four straight years from 2009-2012, but have not faced each other since then.

About Villanova

A former Tewaarton Award finalist during her playing career at Princeton, Julie Young enters her 10^th season at the helm of the Wildcats in 2021, with 57 victories over that time.
The Wildcats' three leading scorers from 2020 – Brittany Bruno, Katie Comerford, and Liz Trojan -- all return. Bruno had 30 points and Comerford had 20 goals in just eight games last season.
Sydney Frank had 15 ground balls, 12 draw controls and led all BIG EAST players in caused turnovers per game in 2020.
Alexa Moro played every minute in net last season and led all BIG EAST goalkeepers in saves per game.

Previewing The 2021 Seahawks

Eight of the Seahawks' top 10 scorers from 2020 return, led by 2019 All-NEC selections Erin Kerstetter and Madeline Seims. The seniors finished first and second on the team in points for a second consecutive season last year, with Kerstetter totaling multiple points in all seven games and Seims scoring at least four goals in three games.

Fellow senior Stefani Peluso tied for the team last season with 10 assists, finishing with 16 points, while graduate student Megan Drum added 15 goals, giving her 49 goals in her last 24 games, dating back to the start of the 2019 season. Junior Kasey Dorney finished 2020 with a bang, scoring seven of her 10 goals over the season's final four games.

On the defensive end, the entire starting unit – graduate students Giaci Vitolo, Lindsay Haas and Isabel Glace, junior Aileen Hannan, and sophomore Casey Haas all return for the Seahawks. Hannan scooped 15 ground balls and finished second on the team with 11 caused turnovers -- including two in each of the final four games of the season, Vitolo finished right behind Hannan with caused 10 turnovers of her own, while Glace and the Haas sisters forced a combined 12 turnovers.

In net, junior Lauren DiStefano played every minute of every game, averaging 10 saves per game, posting a .438 save percentage. She added 18 ground balls, good for third on the team, and three caused turnovers.

All 24 returners will compete with nine freshmen for playing time in this long-awaited season.

2021 Schedule

Following Villanova, Wagner's three-game season-opening road trip continues against Hofstra (3/2) before kicking off NEC play against Central Connecticut State (3/6). The Seahawks welcome the LIU Sharks to Hameline Field for their home opener (3/10), with Bryant coming to Grymes Hill later that week (3/13) before the first conference road game against Merrimack (3/20). Mount St. Mary's will come to Grymes Hill for the teams' first match-up since the 2019 conference championship game (3/24) before a road game with Sacred Heart (3/27) closes out the month.

April commences with Merrimack's return trip to Grymes Hill (4/3), a road contest against Saint Francis (4/7), and a home battle with Sacred Heart (4/10). Road games against Mount St. Mary's (4/17) and LIU (4/21) pre-date the regular season finale at home against Saint Francis (4/24).

The 2021 NEC Conference Tournament is slated to begin May 6 with both semifinals, followed by the championship game on May 8. All NEC tourney games will be held at the home site of the regular-season champion. Prior to last season's cancelation, the Seahawks had qualified for the postseason in each of the prior six seasons, reaching the title game all six times.

Next Up For Wagner