Editor's Note: The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is celebrating its 40th anniversary season in 2020-21. Throughout this summer, the conference will be announcing all-anniversary teams for each sport it currently sponsors. In conjunction, the Marist Athletics Department will highlight its achievements from the MAAC era.
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POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist women's lacrosse team joined the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 1997, and since that time period has enjoyed a great deal of success.
The Red Foxes have won two MAAC Championships throughout the program's history, which came in 2008 and 2010. Marist has racked up seven total appearances in the MAAC Championship throughout the team's history, which ranks third all-time among MAAC schools.
Samantha Mehalick: Mehalick is the only player in program and conference history to reach the 200-career goal milestone, and she will be back for another year in 2021. Other accolades for Mehalick include being named MAAC Offensive Player of the Week five times, and MAAC Rookie of the Week twice back in 2017. She progressed from the MAAC All-Rookie Team, to the All-MAAC second team in her sophomore campaign, and then was named to the All-MAAC First team in 2019. The senior captain also holds the program (and conference) record for goals in a single game, scoring 11 against Manhattan on April 27, 2019. Her 79 goals in 2019 also set a record for most goals scored in a single season, and she led the nation in free position goals per game.
Hailey Wagner: When it comes to draw controls, Wagner is alone atop the record books. Not only does she own the program record for most draw controls in a single game (23), she is also number one in single season draw controls with 224 (an NCAA record). She holds Marist's career draw control record with 573, while the next best is Jamie Romano with 268. She is also tied for first in total games played as a Red Fox with 71. Wagner's career accolades include: Being the 2019 MAAC Student-Athlete of the Year, being a 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year nominee, being named to the 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-American Third Team, being a 2019 IWLCA Senior All-Star, and being an Inside Lacrosse Honorable Mention All-American Draw Specialist.
Abby Witczak: Witczak graduated from Marist in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in sports communication and was a three-time Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference All-Academic Team honoree as well as a team captain. She was a recipient of Marist College's James Pizzani Award, which is given to those who best embody the college's core ideals of excellence in education, pursuit of higher human values, and dedication to the principle of service.
The first ever MAAC Goalkeeper of the Year in 2017 and the 2014 MAAC Rookie of the Year, Witczak ended her career as the Red Foxes' women's lacrosse program's all-time leader in games played (71), wins (40), and goals against average (10.11). She is regarded as the best goalkeeper in program history.
Allison Gionta: Gionta was the 2016 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year, and made the All-MAAC First team three straight seasons. IN 2016, the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Association named Gionta to the All-Region Northeast Second Team. She finished her senior season with 88 points (5.18 per game), which are second most in MAAC history and the most in a single season by a Red Fox. Among the nation's attackers she finished 11th in goals (59), fifth in goals per game (3.47) and ninth in points (88) in 2016.With 59 goals this past season, Gionta broke a 7-year-old Marist record for most in one year. Gionta's 89 career assists are the most in program history.
Lindsey Diener: You can't look at the Marist record books without seeing Diener's name all over it. She is second in program history in career goals (162), assists (82), and points (244). She is even ranked fifth on the team's all-time ground balls list with 124 and sixth on the career draw controls list with 112. She is even ninth on the all-time caused turnovers list with 51.
Head Coach Jessica Wilkinson: Wilkinson is the longest-tenured (10 seasons) and winningest (80 career victories) coach in Marist women's lacrosse history. Wilkinson has led the Red Foxes to two MAAC regular-season championships (2014, 2018). The 2014 team went 14-4, and set a single-season program record for wins. Wilkinson has amassed a .606 winning percentage (40-26) in conference play. She is a three-time MAAC Coach of the Year (2013, 2014, 2018) who has coached four MAAC major award winners and two NCAA statistical champions (
Hailey Wagner, draw controls per game;
Samantha Mehalick, free position goals per game).
Tierney Larson: Marist's current assistant coach had an outstanding four year career as a Red Fox. Larson graduated Marist in 2014 as one of the program's best passers of all time. At the time of her graduation, she held the program record for assists in a single game with seven (she is now tied with Morgan Jaycox). She currently holds the program record for the most assists in a single season with 51 and is third-all time in career assists with 78. She played a pivotol role in Marist's best regular season in 2014.
Kara McHugh: McHugh was a three-time All-MAAC honoree at Marist from 2013-16. She earned Second Team laurels in 2014 and capped her career with back-to-back First Team All-MAAC selections as a junior and senior. In the Marist record book, McHugh ranks seventh in goals (99), tied for ninth in assists (42), eighth in points (141), fourth in draw controls (114) and third in caused turnovers (58). She is one of only three players to post over 100 points and 100 draw controls for the Red Foxes.
Christine Astarita: Astarita was named Second Team All-MAAC her first three seasons for the Red Foxes, and the only reason it wasn't four straight seasons was because she made the All-MAAc First Team her senior year. At the time of the completion of her career in 2015, Astarita ranked first in career games played (now second) and was fourth in caused turnovers (55) and 10th in ground balls (106). She made the MAAC All-Academic Team all three years she was eligible.
Jamie Romano: Romano was the draw control expert in the record books until
Hailey Wagner came along. At the time of her graduation, she held records in both draw controls for a single seaosn and draw controls for a career. What made her resume even more impressive was that she also ranked fourth on the all-time goals list (126) and sixth on the all-time points list (145). She finished her senior season with 88 draw controls, which ranked 12th in the entire NCAA. Romano capped her career by being nominated for the NCAA Women of the Year Award.
Stephanie Garland: Garland played a pivotal role in the red Foxes' MAAC Championship run in 2008. Her senior season she set a (then) single-season record in goals with 55 and notched a total of 70 points.Garland led the team in scoring in 2009 as the Red Foxes reached the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game for the third consecutive season. She was named First Team All-MAAC and to the MAAC All-Tournament Team at the end of the season for her efforts. Garland now ranks fifth on the all-time goals (132) and points (193) lists,and she is sixth on the all-time assists list (61).
Pamela Brown: At the time of her graduation, Brown was the Red Foxes' all-time leader in goals, points, and assists, and nearly 20 years later she still ranks among the program bests in all of those categories. Currently, her all-time rankings are fourth in goals (148), fourth in points (201), and 10th in assists (53). Brown also held the program's single-game points record (14) for 19 years until Allison Gionta surpassed it with a 15-point game in 2016. Brown also played a key role in the team's first MAAC regular-season championship which came in 2000, as she scored a career-best 47 goals in the season. She was a team captain on that 2000 team, and was a two-time captain throughout her career. Brown was also recognized as the team's Most Valuable Player three times in her career - 1999, 2000, and 2001.
Although not winning a MAAC title like the 2008 and 2010 teams, the 2014 Red Fox squad was one of the best in program history. The team put together a 14-4 overall record, which was the best mark in the history of the program.
The season, which resulted in a MAAC regular season title, was also highlighted by a massive road victory against USC, which is one of the best programs the Red Foxes have ever defeated.
The team also consisted of some of the top players that have ever gone through this program. Both Witzcak and Gionta were crucial players for this team, as were four of the honorable mentions in Astarita, Larson, McHugh, and Romano.
Wilkinson won MAAC Coach of the Year in 2014, and Witczak was named MAAC Rookie of the Year that season. The Red Foxes had four members of the All-MAAC Second Team, and three players named to the All-MAAC First Team.
GOALS: 1.
Samantha Mehalick (204) 2. Lindsey Diener (162) 3. Allison Gionta (161) 4. Pamela Brown (148) 5. Stephanie Garland (132)
ASSISTS: 1. Allison Gionta (89) 2. Lindsey Diener (82) 3. Tierney Larson (78) 4. Olivia Pitonzo (74) 5.
Kelly George (67)
POINTS: 1. Allison Gionta (250) 2. Lindsey Diener (244) 3.
Samantha Mehalick (216) 4. Pamela Brown (201) 5. Stephanie Garland (193)
GROUND BALLS: 1. Patricia Leahy (141) 2. Ashley Casiano (131) 3. Lauren Serge (130) 4. Abigail Witczak (127) 5. Lindsey Diener (124)
DRAW CONTROLS: 1.
Hailey Wagner (573) 2. Jamie Romano (268) 3. Jamine Aponte (150) 4. Amanda Tuck (117) 5. Kara McHugh (114)
CAUSED TURNOVERS: 1. Morgan Dillon (76) 2. Sheridan Fauvell (65) 3. Kara McHugh (58) 4. Joanna Maehr (57) 5. Patricia Leahy (56)
SAVES: 1. Heather Ripp (632) 2. Liz Burkhard (561) 3. Abigail Witczak (557) 4. Christy Uellendahl (507) 5. Ashley Casiano (491)
WINS: 1. Abigail Witczak (40) T2. Ashley Casiano (22) T2. Liz Burkhard (22) T2. Heather Ripp (22) 5.
Delaney Galvin (20)
GAMES PLAYED: T1.
Hailey Wagner (71) T1. Abigail Witczak (71) T1. Christine Astarita (71) T4. Laura Lucchesi (70) T4. Amanda Tuck (70)
