NEW HAVEN, Conn. - - Three Wilmington University women's lacrosse student-athletes were voted to the All-Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference First Team, as voted on by the league's 10 head coaches.
It is the first tie since 2015 the Wildcats had three member named First Team All-CACC, and ties the team's record which also happened in 2010 and 2012.
The Wildcats finished 7-10 on the season, going 5-4 in the CACC to capture the fifth seed for the CACC Tournament. They lost in the CACC Tournament Quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Wilmington had a player represented from each third of the field, led by La'Dae Boykin (Baltimore, Md./Edgewood) on attack, Lashay Ross (Hamilton, N.J./Hamilton HS West) in the midfield, and Christina Ziegler (Elkton, Md./Rising Sun) on defense.
Boykin had a record setting season for the Wildcats, breaking numerous offense marks in her senior season. She led the CACC with 76 goals and 102 points in the regular season, finishing the year with 79 goals and 107 points, which are both Wilmington single season program records. She scored 10 goals at Chestnut Hill to set a new single game program record, adding one assist to tie the single game program record. Boykin would not be tied for long, however, scoring nine goals while adding three assists for a single game program record 12 points two days later against Dominican. Also finished sixth in the CACC with 28 assists and eighth in the league with 71 draw controls.
Not to be outdone in the record books this year, Ross set a few records of her own from the midfield. She broke a program record with 157 draw controls this season, nearly doubling the previous record of 88. She tied the single game record for draws in back-to-back games with 13 at Holy Family and then against West Virginia Wesleyan before breaking the mark with 14 draws at Chestnut Hill on April 16. She had 10 games of 10 or more draws this season. Ross also scored 60 goals this season, finishing fifth in the CACC and eighth in the league with 71 points. She had a season high seven goals twice, including an eight-point contest against West Virginia Wesleyan with seven goals and an assist.
Ziegler has been a staple on defense for the Wildcats in her four seasons, culminating with a First Team All-CACC selection this year. She joined the offensive threat this season, scoring seven goals while adding two assists for nine points. She also collected 28 ground balls to go with 52 draws, adding a team leading 16 caused turnovers on the defensive side. She had a season high two caused turnovers in five games, including in each of the first three games of the year. She came up with a season high seven draws against Post on March 24 and collected three ground balls in four separate games. She scored two goals against Dominican and finished with a season high three points at Felician.
It is the second All-CACC honor for Boykin and Ross in their careers, as they were named Second Team All-CACC last year. It is the first postseason award for Ziegler.
Georgian Court's Samantha Fernandez was named the CACC Player of the Year for the second year in a row while Nyack's Melissa Clapsaddle was named the CACC Rookie of the Year. Georgian Court's Xena Valenzuela was voted as the Defensive Player of the Year while the league's sports information directors named her coach Amy Rizzo the CACC Coach of the Year. Nyack was tabbed with the Team Sportsmanship Award to cap the 2018 Major Award winners.
AGATE:
2018 CACC Women's Lacrosse All-Conference Teams:
First Team:
A La'Dae Boykin (Wilmington University)
A Samantha Fernandez (Georgian Court University)
A Julia Galantich (Chestnut Hill College)
M Taylor Bauerband (Georgian Court University)
M Jenna Fox (Dominican College)
M Lashay Ross (Wilmington University)
M Xena Valenzuela (Georgian Court University)
M Sarah von Lange (Jefferson)
D Chanel D'Angelo (Jefferson)
D Rachel Lucia (Caldwell University)
D Kaley Malampy (Chestnut Hill College)
D Christina Ziegler (Wilmington University)
G Amber Neumann (Georgian Court University)
Second Team:
A Kathryn Avanzato (Jefferson)
A Alayna Heegan (Dominican College)
A Arden Kassaleh (Caldwell University)
M Erin Campbell (Jefferson)
M Melissa Clapsaddle (Nyack College)
M Erin Eckert (Jefferson)
M Madison Heck (Georgian Court University)
M Julia Reinert (Chestnut Hill College)
D Caleigh Gallagher (Holy Family University)
D Jenna Hoffman (Georgian Court University)
D Lisa Milburn (Georgian Court University)
G Victoria Raimondi (Jefferson)
2018 CACC Women's Lacrosse Award Winners:
Player of the Year: Samantha Fernandez (Georgian Court University)
Rookie of the Year: Melissa Clapsaddle (Nyack College)
Defensive Player of the Year: Xena Valenzuela (Georgian Court University)
Coach of the Year: Amy Rizzo (Georgian Court University)
Team Sportsmanship Award: Nyack College
Regular Season Champions: Georgian Court University