Women's Lacrosse Opens 2024 Season in Arizona

Friday, February 9

Tempe, Ariz.

5 p.m. ET

Xavier University

Arizona State

Women's Lacrosse Opens 2024 Season in Arizona

02.08.24 | Women's Lacrosse

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The Musketeers are slated for two games in Tempe for the opening weekend of play

By: Dianna Lewis, Xavier Athletic Communications

TEMPE, Ariz. - Xavier women's lacrosse is set to open the 2024 season on the road at Arizona State.

The Musketeers will face the Sun Devils and the San Diego State Aztecs in the opening weekend of play.

GAME INFORMATION

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS

2024 Record: 0-0 (0-0 Pac-12)
2023 Record: 6-13 (3-7 Pac-12)
2023 Postseason: Pac-12 Tournament
Head Coach: Taryn VanThof (1st)
Series History: 0-0
Last Meeting: First Meeting

2024 Record: 0-0 (0-0 Pac-12)
2023 Record: 6-10 (Independent)
2023 Postseason: N/A
Head Coach: Kylee White (13th)
Series History: 0-0
Last Meeting: First Meeting

LAST OUTING (2023 SEASON)

• Lola Mancuso finished the 2023 season as the leading scorer for the Musketeers with 38 goals and six hat tricks. Following the conclusion of the 2023 season, the BIG EAST tabbed Mancuso as the 2023 Freshman of the Year because of her significant contributions to the Musketeer's offense. Mancuso is the program leader in goals, points, shots, shots on goal, and free position goals.

• Erin Berls was tabbed to the 2023 All-BIG EAST Second Team following her 12 goals, 18 draw controls, and nine ground balls.

• Kiera Armitage led the Musketeers on the draw with 44 controls and contributed 15 ground balls, 10 points, and eight caused turnovers with a .600 shooting percentage.

• Marina Piszczor stood tall in the goal for Xavier last season, tallying 138 saves, four wins, 455 shots faced, and a save percentage of .400.

• Claire Slade, the program leader in assists, tallied seven total, along with four goals and five ground balls.

BIG EAST STANDINGS

Place	Team	BIG EAST	OVERALL
1.	Denver	0-0	0-0
2.	UConn	0-0	0-0
3.	Villanova	0-0	0-0
4.	Georgetown	0-0	0-0
5.	Marquette	0-0	0-0
6.	Butler	0-0	0-0
7.	Xavier	0-0	0-0

BIG EAST PRESEASON POLL

BIG EAST Preseason Poll
First Place Votes in ()
Denver (6)           36 pts
Connecticut        29
Villanova           25
Georgetown (1) 21
Marquette          19
Butler                  10
Xavier                 7

BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Kate Shaffer, Connecticut, Gr., A

BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Sam Thacker, Denver, Gr., D

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Leah Rubino, Butler, Sr., M
Rayea Davis, Connecticut, R-So., A
Madelyn George, Connecticut, Gr., M
Kate Shaffer, Connecticut, Gr., A*
Landyn White, Connecticut, Gr., GK*
Emelia Bohi, Denver, Jr., GK
Julia Gilbert, Denver, Gr., A
Abby Jenkins, Denver, Sr., DS
Bryn McCaughey, Denver, Sr., D
Trinity McPherson, Denver, Gr., D*
Sam Thacker, Denver, Sr., D*
Tatum Geist, Georgetown, Sr., M*
Kylie Hazen, Georgetown, Sr., A
Leigh Steiner, Marquette, Sr., M
Sydney Pappas, Villanova, Jr., A*

*denotes unanimous selection

SCHEDULE NOTES

• The 2024 women's lacrosse schedule consists of nine home games and seven road games with a full BIG EAST schedule. The Musketeers are eligible for the 2024 BIG EAST Tournament, which will be hosted at Xavier's Corcoran Field from May 2-4.

• The Musketeers will face six new opponents, Arizona State, San Diego State, Akron, Cincinnati, Vanderbilt, and Louisville, in non-conference action.

• Xavier women's lacrosse will face teams from six different conferences in the program's second season (BIG EAST, PAC-12, Big South, Mid-American, AAC, and ACC).

• The six-game BIG EAST slate opens on Mar. 23 at 11 a.m. as Xavier hosts Butler and closes on Apr. 27 at 1:30 p.m. ET on the road at Denver.

• The 2024 home opener is on Feb. 17 against Radford and home action concludes on Apr. 20 vs Marquette.

• The Musketeers will face three teams that saw action in the 2023 postseason: Denver (NCAA Tournament Semifinals) and Marquette and UConn (NCAA Tournament First Round).

ABOUT THE MUSKETEERS

• Head Coach Meg Decker enters her second season at the helm of the program. Last season, Decker led the Musketeers to four program wins, three postseason awards, and three in-season awards. Coach Decker continues to strengthen the Xavier program in it's second season. The head coach also played crucial roles in establishing women's lacrosse programs at the U.S. Naval Academy as an athlete, Virginia Commonwealth as an assistant coach, and Hartford as a first-time head coach.

• Assistant Coach Lexy Biller enters her first season with the program after a successful playing career at Lindenwood. Biller was paramount in the success of the Lindenwood program, leading the squad to a 2021 NCAA DII National Championship, breaking the program records in career draw controls, earning 2021 USA Lacrosse All-American honors, All-Region First Team IWLCA Honors, and a 2023 All-ASUN Second Team selection after the program's transition to Division I.

• Xavier's 2024 squad consists of 37 athletes - 14 freshmen, 16 sophomores, two juniors, four seniors, and one graduate. Of the 37 players, 21 letterwinners are returning to the program for the second season and 16 are new to the roster. Head Coach Meg Decker added two transfers, Julia Frombach and Jordan Miller, and the 14 freshmen in the off-season.

• Among notable returning letterwinners is sophomore attack Lola Mancuso. Mancuso scored the first program goal, the first free position goal, the first hat trick, and the first sock trick, as well as became the first player to be named a BIG EAST Freshman of the Week and secured the program's highest postseason honor as the 2023 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. She led the Musketeers in points, goals, free position goals, shots on goal, total shots, game-winning goals, and man-up and man-down goals.

• Additional notable returning players are Erin Berls, a 2023 All-BIG EAST Second Team selection, Kiera Armitage, the program leader in draw controls and a 2023 BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, Molly Smith, the program leader in shot percentage and shots on goal percentage, Marina Piszczor, the program leader in saves, shots faced, and save percentage, and Claire Slade, the program leader in assists.

• In the inaugural season, the Musketeers recorded a 4-10 (0-6 BIG EAST) record, notching wins over Radford, Presbyterian, Longwood, and Eastern Michigan.