No. 18 Women’s Lacrosse Opens Season on Saturday at No. 16 Mercy
WALTHAM, Mass. – Ranked No. 18 in Division II, the Bentley women's lacrosse team gets its 2024 season underway on Saturday when they visit No. 16 Mercy for an early season top-25 showdown.
Saturday's game is part of a grueling early season schedule for the Falcons that has them facing four top-25 teams out of the first six. The home opener next Thursday is against No. 2 ranked West Chester, before a trip to Florida to face Saint Leo (receiving votes) and No. 5 Florida Southern on March 14 and 16. Last season they beat those same two teams, including a 17-16 over Florida Southern when they were ranked No. 2.
The first NE10 game of the season is at home on March 23 against No. 4 Adelphi.
The Falcons won double-digit games last season for the third time in the last four full seasons at 10-7. They finished the year ranked 20th and were ranked as high as 12th. They had five wins over ranked squads, with two victories over top-10 teams Florida Southern and Adelphi.
Head coach Taylor Bastien, now in her 7th season leading her alma mater, has 20 players back from last season. Four of the six All-Conference selections from the 2023 team return. Attacker Maeve Johnson, midfielders Caroline Affolter and Nat Dutkewych and defender Kat Slattery.
Affolter and Johnson, along with fellow seniors Emma Jadul and Courtney Dermody, will serve as team captains.
Johnson is the team's leading returning scorer after she posted 61 points (47 goals, 14 assists). Her 47 goals are tied for the 7th most in a single season in school history.
Dermody notched 21 goals last season and was one of the team's top playmakers with 15 assists. Amanda Davis had a breakout sophomore season with 34 goals and was efficient in scoring on 69.3 percent of her shots on goal.
Affolter was an all-around force and was among the team leaders in goals, draw controls, caused turnovers and ground balls.
The Falcons will also look towards offensive production from returners Stephanie McAuliffe, who had a career high 13 goals last season, and Dutkewych, who scored nine as a freshman and was named to the All-Rookie team.
Jadul and Slattery will help anchor the team's defense and in the cage the Falcons have one of the NE10's best in Ashlee Wargo. The junior from Madison, Connecticut was named the IWLCA Division II Defensive Player of the Week on two occasions last season.
Some key dates for fans to look forward to are the home opener next Thursday against West Chester, which has an early 12:00 PM start time.
The team will host Alumnae Day on Saturday, March 23 against Adelphi and on Tuesday, April 2 against Franklin Pierce the Falcons will host their annual Morgan's Message game.
On Wednesday, April 10 against Southern N.H. the Falcons will raise awareness and fundraise for breast cancer research with its Think Pink game. Senior Day is set for Saturday, April 20 against New Haven.