- New Canaan’s Bailey Pilder was the starting goalie for the Gettysburg Bullets, who won the 2018 NCAA Div. III National championship this spring. — Gettysburg Athletics photo
Former Fairfield Ludlowe star Ali Gorab was a senior captain, former New Canaan star Bailey Pilder was the starting goalie, and former Darien standout Daphne Budd was a sophomore defender, and all three helped Gettysburg College win its second straight NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Tournament championship.
Former New Canaan star Elizabeth Miller played in the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Tournament championship game. Miller was a key contributor in helping Boston College advance to the Division I final, where the BC Eagles were nipped, 16-15, by James Madison.
Gorab, Pilder, Budd and Miller were four of the many former FCIAC players who are college student-athletes for their respective women’s lacrosse teams.
The accomplishments and highlights of all those former FCIAC players are listed below. Each player is listed under their former high school, with each of those high schools from the FCIAC listed in alphabetical order. Names were provided by current FCIAC girls’ lacrosse coaches.
Note: The names of the players included here were provided by the coaches from FCIAC teams. If there are any players you would like to see included in this story, please email their names and schools to [email protected].
Click the player names for bios from their college websites.
Darien
Dillon Schoen concluded an excellent career as senior captain and midfielder for a Stanford University team which won the inaugural Pac-12 Tournament championship. She played in all 76 games during her four-year career and finished fourth all-time at Stanford in career games played and caused turnovers (68). Schoen also had 93 goals and 33 assists for 126 points and 97 ground balls for her career. This year she had 28 goals and seven assists for 35 points, was fourth on the team with 30 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers, and she set a school record with eight free position shots against Harvard on Feb. 23. Also excelling with her studies, Dillon made the 2018 Pac-12 All-Academic First Team this year after having been a two-time MPSF All-Academic Team pick (2016, 2017).
Caroline Benitez had a very good year as a junior midfielder for Florida. The Gators won one game in the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Tournament to advance to the quarterfinals, where they were eliminated by eventual champion James Madison, 11-8. She started in 21 games and had 20 goals, four assists, 28 ground balls, 14 caused turnovers and 13 draw controls. Benitez registered a career-high six ground balls in Florida’s 13-9 victory over Colorado in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. And she most definitely excelled with her studies – having been named to the 2018 IWLCA Academic Honor Roll and 2018 SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll.
Annie Wright was also listed on the team roster for Florida as a freshman defender. She did not see any game action this past spring.
Logan Book was a freshman defender for Navy, which won a pair of tournament games to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Tournament. Book played in nine games, tallied three points on two goals and one assist, and she snatched a pair of ground balls. Navy was beaten in the NCAA quarterfinals by Maryland, 17-15.
Emily Stein was a redshirt junior midfielder who played a key role in helping Northwestern University advance to the quarterfinals of the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Tournament. Stein had two goals and two ground balls in Northwestern’s 21-16 victory over Towson in the second round of the tournament and then she recorded a career-high three ground balls in the quarterfinals when the season ended with a 19-14 loss to North Carolina. Stein played in 21 games, had a career-high eight goals, five assists 14 ground balls and four caused turnovers. She also had her first four career multi-point games.
Anna Stein started in 15 of the 15 games she played in as a freshman attacker for Lafayette and scored 11 goals.
Hollis Perticone put the wraps on an outstanding career as a senior midfielder for Division III Tournament runner-up Middlebury. Perticone finished third on the team in goals (36), fourth in scoring (44 points) and also had 31 ground balls and 28 caused turnovers while starting in all 23 games. She started in 80 of her 81 career games and totaled 107 goals and 39 assists for 146 points, 88 ground balls and 75 caused turnovers and had a shooting percentage of .433.
Daphne Budd was a sophomore defender on the Gettysburg Bullets’ Div. III National championship team this spring. She played in 21 games, starting four times, and collected 16 ground balls and eight caused turnovers.
Carly Schoudel was a freshman goalie who started 15 games for Roanoke. She made 111 saves for a .401 save percentage and had an 11.22 goals-against average.
Ellie Bennett and Emma Lesko were both on the Dartmouth roster. Bennett was listed as a senior defender who missed the season due to injury. Lesko was a freshman midfielder who played in five games before missing the end of the season due to an injury.
Chandler Kirby was a sophomore midfielder for Michigan who had 21 goals and two assists in 17 games. She was a 2017 and ’18 U-M letter winner and in 2017 she received the U-M Athletic Academic Achievement Award.
Dani Dunn played in one game as a junior midfielder for UConn.
Fairfield Ludlowe
Ali Gorab was a senior defender and team captain who started in all 23 games and helped Gettysburg win the 2018 NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Tournament championship with an 11-9 victory over Middlebury. She was third on the team in ground balls (31) and caused turnovers (18). Gorab appeared in 63 games over the last three seasons, starting in the last 44 of them, and was praised by the coaching staff as being a major reason why the three best defensive seasons in program history occurred with her on the field. The Bullets, who finished 21-2 this year, posted their three lowest goals-against averages over the last three seasons. Gorab had 77 ground balls and 37 caused turnovers for her career. She and her fellow seniors finished with more wins than any class in program history as they led Gettysburg to a 76-12 record during their four-year tenure.
Fairfield Warde
Sarah Reilly had a superb junior year for Assumption. The attacker/midfielder racked up 62 goals and 26 assists in 16 games and earned selections on the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Second Team and the NE-10 Second Team. Reilly registered 45 draw controls and 19 caused turnovers. She has totaled 174 points on 118 goals and 56 assists while starting 44 of 50 games in her three-year career.
Amanda Orvis had eight goals and seven assists in 17 games as a sophomore attacker for Skidmore.
Rebekah Snitkoff was a sophomore goalie for Rochester Institute of Technology who started in 13 of the 17 games she played in and made a career-high 128 saves. Snitkoff was named to the Liberty League All-Academic Team for maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average.
Jenna Kuczo fired in nine goals and added six assists as a freshman attacker for Roanoke College.
Sarah Adams saw action in six games as a freshman midfielder for George Washington University and was named to the 2017 Fall GW Athletics Academics Dean’s List.
Courtney Scheetz played in 10 games as a freshman attacker for Lafayette.
New Canaan
Elizabeth Miller had a strong year as a starting junior defender who helped the Boston College Eagles to a very successful season in which they finished 22-2 after their heartbreaking 16-15 loss to James Madison in the championship game of the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Tournament. Miller started in all 24 games, had six goals and one assist, grabbed 31 ground balls and was named to the ACC Honor Roll.
Bailey Pilder was the starting junior goalie who helped Gettysburg College defend its NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Tournament championship. Pilder made a 12 saves and had a .571 save percentage while playing 60 minutes in the championship game when Gettysburg defeated Middlebury, 11-9. Pilder played in 23 games, made 166 saves and had a .608 save percentage for the year.
Matty Novick and Katie DeMarino were two of the seven former players from the FCIAC on the Lafayette roster. Novick played in eight games as a junior defender and DeMarino was a sophomore midfielder who played in 11 games.
Kylie Murphy saw action in two games as a freshman attacker for Butler.
Isabel Taben played in four games as a junior attacker for Dartmouth.
Catherine Granito played in five games as sophomore attacker for Michigan and earned her second letter.
Samantha Stewart had another solid season as a sophomore midfielder for Army West Point. Stewart was tied for second on the team with 24 goals and 19 ground balls, she added four assists and had a shooting percentage of .490.
Campbell Armstrong had a fine rookie year as a midfielder for St. Lawrence University with 26 goals and 10 assists in 14 games.
Ridgefield
Maddie Burns played in 17 games as a sophomore goalie for Army West Point. She made 126 saves, had a 10.65 goals-against average and a .457 save percentage.
Kimmy Weinstock played in a dozen games as a sophomore midfielder for Temple and ranked fifth on the team with 11 draw controls.
Sarah Strange started in 12 of the 17 games she appeared in as a sophomore defender for Iona. She grabbed 18 ground balls and caused 13 turnovers.
Sarah Kaiser and Alyssa Bonanno were teammates at Hamilton College. Kaiser was a junior midfielder who appeared in all 16 games and snatched 24 ground balls. Bonanno played in 10 games as a freshman defender. She is also a member of Hamilton’s women’s soccer team.
Julia Realander appeared in four games as a freshman midfielder for Babson.
Annie Hage was a freshman midfielder for Lafayette who played in six games.
Staples
Jenna McNicholas was a junior attacker who helped Middlebury advance to the championship game of the 2018 NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Tournament. McNicholas started in four of the 23 games, she finished fifth on the team with her 27 goals and also contributed five assists. She has started in eight of 51 games during her three-year career and scored 56 points, including 47 career goals.
Colleen Bannon and Amelia Heisler were teammates for Lafayette and among seven former players from the FCIAC on the team. Bannon started in all 17 games as a freshman attacker and had four goals and two assists. Heisler started in 16 of 17 games as a junior defender. She was ranked second on the team in caused turnovers (19) and sixth in ground balls (22).
Olvia Troy played in five games as a freshman midfielder for UConn. She had one goal, one assist and three ground balls.
Anna Eichhorn was a sophomore midfielder for Wellesley who started in nine of the 16 games she played and had two goals, an assist and 14 ground balls.
Wilton
Shannon Quinlan was listed on the roster as a senior attacker for the James Madison team which won the championship game of the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Tournament by a 16-15 margin over Boston College. Quinlan saw action in one game before she suffered a season-ending injury and she received a medical redshirt for an additional year of eligibility.
Ellie Armstrong had 47 goals and 12 assists in 16 games as a freshman attacker for Roanoke.
Lilla Seymour had 11 goals and four assists as a sophomore attacker for Skidmore.
Olivia Phelan appeared in 13 games, six of them starting assignments, as a sophomore goalie for Babson. She had a 10.68 goals-against average and a .384 save percentage. Phelan earned 2018 NEWMAC Academic All-Conference honors.
Emilie Arrix joined the Denver team in March as a senior goalie but did not make an appearance. The Pioneers qualified for the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Tournament.