Bentley Places Four Student-Athletes on IWLCA Academic Honor Roll; Team Also Named an Academic Honor Squad
WALTHAM, Mass. - Four players from the Bentley University women's lacrosse team were named to the IWLCA 2018 Zag Sports Division II Academic Honor Roll, it was announced Monday. It was also revealed that Bentley was named as an IWLCA Academic Honor Squad.
To qualify for the Honor Roll, a student-athlete must be a junior, senior, or graduate student, and have earned a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or greater. To qualify as an Honor Squad, a team must have posted a 3.0 or higher team GPA for the academic year.
The four student-athletes to qualify for the Honor Roll are recent graduate Kathleen Gillespie (Topsfield, Mass./Masconomet) and rising seniors Sabrina Goebel (Westborough, Mass./Westborough), Jillian Keegan (Burlington, Conn./Lewis Mills) and Melissa Makarius (Smithtown East, Smithtown).
Gillespie was a four-year starter for the Falcons who was an all-around threat as a midfielder. She was one of the Northeast-10's best in the draw control circle as she amassed over 260 draws in her career, while she was also regularly among Bentley's team leaders in ground balls and caused turnovers during her career. Offensively, Gillespie scored 67 career goals and dished out 16 assists. She majored in finance.
Goebel, a midfielder, played in 12 games last season for the Falcons and is majoring in finance. She scored two goals in the team's win over Saint Anselm, and also found the back of the net in a victory over Southern Connecticut. Goebel also started four games for Bentley in 2018.
Keegan played in 12 games last season and started six as a defensive player and helped the Falcons achieve a final national ranking of 22nd. She caused three turnovers and scooped up six ground balls on the season. Keegan is an economics-finance major.
Makarius, who majors in finance, played in 14 games with six starts last season. She had two assists in Bentley's win over American International, and one assist each in games against Southern Connecticut and Merrimack. She also scored in the team's win over Saint Michael's.
The Falcons finished the 2018 season with a 9-7 overall record, 8-5 mark in the NE10, advanced to the NE10 Quarterfinals and defeated four nationally ranked teams during the season.