BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. -- The Shepherd University women's lacrosse team has been tabbed by the coaches in the Mountain East Conference to win the league's inaugural women's lacrosse championship.
Shepherd picked up five first-place votes and finished with 25 points. The Rams went 10-6 last year under head coach
Meghan Keelan, who enters her fourth season at the helm in Shepherdstown.
Shepherd returns a group of talented scorers in senior attacker
Georgia Karr (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) (49 goals, 37 assists in 2014), junior attacker
Hunter Morris (Severna Park, Md./Severn School) (43 goals, 9 assists in 2014), junior midfielder
Erin Phelan (Thurmont, Md./Catoctin) (39 goals, 21 assists in 2014), and senior attacker/midfielder
Kelsey Eagan (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point) (22 goals, 4 assists in 2014). The defense returns senior defender/midfielder
Alyx Albano (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) (54 ground balls, 41 caused turnovers, 19 draw controls in 2014), junior defender
Kelsey Phelan (Thurmont, Md./Catoctin) (44 ground balls, 25 caused turnovers. 8 draw controls in 2014), sophomore midfielder
Courtney Schwiegerath (Frederick, Md./Oakdale) (24 ground balls, 41 draw controls, and 7 caused turnovers), and senior netminder
Lily Schmulowitz (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) (12.94 GAA, 110 saves in 2014).
The Rams open the 2015 season on Sunday, Feb. 22 when they host Alderson Broaddus for a 1 p.m. contest at Ram Stadium.
Wheeling Jesuit was tabbed to finish second with 19 points, finishing just ahead of Notre Dame with 18 points. The Falcons received one first-place vote. UVa-Wise was predicted to finish third with 13 points, followed by West Virginia Wesleyan (10) and Urbana (5).
The MEC began conducting a conference championship for women's lacrosse after UVa-Wise became the sixth team in the league to sponsor the sport this spring. The University of Charleston recently added women's lacrosse and will begin competing in the MEC in 2016.
2015 MEC Women's Lacrosse
Preseason Poll |
| 1. | Shepherd (5) | 25 |
| 2. | Wheeling Jesuit | 19 |
| 3. | Notre Dame (1) | 18 |
| 4. | UVa-Wise | 13 |
| 5. | West Virginia Wesleyan | 10 |
| 6. | Urbana | 5 |
() Indicates first place votes
* Coaches not able to vote for own team |
