UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Women's Lacrosse team will open the season ranked No. 12 in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Preseason Poll, released on Monday. The Nittany Lions were also selected third in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll, announced on Monday.
Penn State was projected third in the Big Ten Preseason Poll, behind Maryland and Northwestern. Rounding out the poll were Johns Hopkins, Michigan, Ohio State and Rutgers.
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Missy Doherty, begins the 2019 campaign ranked 12th in the IWLCA Preseason Poll and No. 9 in the Inside Lacrosse Poll.
Penn State is seeking its eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance after finishing last season with a 10-10 mark, including wins over No. 17 Cornell, No. 22 Johns Hopkins, No. 6 Virginia and No. 7 Northwestern.
The Nittany Lions are set to face nine opponents ranked in the IWLCA Preseason Poll, including No. 2 Maryland, No. 4 James Madison, No. 5 Stony Brook, No. 7 Northwestern, No. 8 Princeton, No. 9 Loyola, No. 11 Towson, No. 16 Virginia and No. 23 Johns Hopkins.
Penn State had three players named among the Big Ten Players to Watch for the 2019 season, including junior Maria Auth, senior Kayla Brisolari and senior Madison Carter. Brisolari and Carter were both named Preseason All-America selections by Inside Lacrosse.
Brisolari was a Third Team All-America selection by the IWLCA last season, tallying 10 goals, three assists, 76 draw controls, 23 groundballs and 24 caused turnovers. She registered 11 games with at least three draw wins as well as two multi-goal performances and three multi-point games.
Auth and Carter are key pieces as the blue and white looks to have a strong offensive attack again after tying a team record with 303 goals last season.
Carter, an IWLCA Postseason All-American in 2017 and 2018, led the Nittany Lions with 62 goals last season. She added two assists, 14 groundballs, 119 draw controls and six caused turnovers. Carter scored at least one goal in 19 of 20 games, including 16 multi-goal performances. She ranked No. 3 in the Big Ten with 3.10 goals per game and No. 24 in the country in goals. Carter was also 20th in the nation with 5.95 draw controls per contest. She enters the 2019 season ranking fifth in program history with 180 goals.
Auth paced Penn State with 71 points, including 54 goals and 17 assists, adding 16 groundballs, 10 draw controls and four caused turnovers. She scored in 19 of 20 games with 18 multi-goal contests. Auth ranked 30th in the country and No. 3 in the Big Ten with 0.95 free position goals per game.