From our friends at Catholic University Athletics...
After going unbeaten in conference player for the sixth-straight season, the Catholic University women's lacrosse team had five players named All-Landmark Conference on Friday while head coach Meghan McDonogh was named Coach of the Year.
All five Cardinals, seniors Megan Ellis, Jess Lyons and Erin Dugan as well as juniors Ally Criscuolo and Alyssa Bishop, were named to the first team, the most in the league.
Ellis earned her first career all-conference selection. She is third on the team with 41 goals and sixth in the league with 24 goals in six conference games. She has started all 18 games this season while posting career highs in goals (41), assists (8) and points (49.) She has posted seven hat-tricks, netting five goals in wins over Elizabethtown and Goucher.
Lyons received her third all-conference selection and second consecutive first team honor. She has started all 18 games and leads the team in goals (48), points (57), draw controls (75) and caused turnovers (30) while ranking second in ground balls (40.) She ranks ninth in the conference in goals, sixth in draw controls and seventh in caused turnovers. She has scored at least one goal in all 18 of the team's games and in 22-straight dating back to last season.
Criscuolo, who received her first all-conference selection, has totaled career highs in goals (45), assists (12), points (57), ground balls (32) and caused turnovers (16.) She is tied for the team lead in points and ranks in the top-10 in the league in assists (8) and points (26) in conference contests. She has scored a career-high five goals twice while adding three assists for eight points, both career highs, in a 23-15 win at Moravian on March 30.
Dugan picked up her fourth career all-conference selection and third-straight first team honor. One of six players who has started all 18 games this season, she is third on the team with 32 ground balls, third with 54 draw controls and fifth with 12 caused turnovers. She has had at least five or more draw controls five times while totaling five ground balls, three draw controls and four caused turnovers in a 21-10 win at Meredith on March 10.
Bishop earned her second consecutive first team all-conference selection. She has also started all 18 games on defense and is second on the team with a career-high 20 caused turnovers. She had four ground balls and five caused turnovers in Catholic's 13-7 win over Drew in the conference tournament semifinals and four ground balls and four caused turnovers in the team's 16-13 win at No. 20 Scranton on April 13.
McDonogh received her fifth Landmark Conference Coach of the Year honor, and second in the last three years, after leading the Cardinals to an unbeaten conference record for the sixth-straight season. The team is also appearing in its 12th consecutive league championship game, having won 10 of the previous 11. Catholic is also currently ranked 10th in the latest IWLCA Division III Coaches Poll. McDonogh and her staff also won the award in 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2017.
On Saturday, Catholic will host Scranton to determine the Landmark Conference champion for the fourth-straight time. Opening draw from Carlini Field is at noon.
