North Carolina
There are big expectations surrounding this Tar Heels roster coming into the 2022 season. After a disappointing Semifinal loss to Boston College last year, there is a lot of returning experience and up and coming talent to be excited about on this roster. The return of Carolina’s best player in Jamie Ortega is big for the program, as she is heading into the year averaging 3.84 goals per game in her career and is currently on a 34 game streak with at least one goal. Another notable returning piece is the hybrid Midfielder/Defender in Emily Nalls, who is a key player in securing possession for the Tar Heels and effectively transitioning the ball to the offensive end of the field (led team in ground balls, caused 20 turnovers, key player in leading fast breaks). Other key players include Ally Mastroianni, Sam Geiersbach, Tayler Warehime and of course the 3 time All-American goalie Taylor Moreno, who should end up being yet again one of the best goalie’s in the nation. Expectations are high for this team.
Boston College
Coming into the 2022 season as the defending champs puts a target on the back of this BC team. The lack of overall senior experience does pose a bit of a challenge, but they do actually have a lot of returning players. Starting in net, the Eagles have an experienced player in Rachel Hall who showed out in the biggest moments and led them to a Natty Chip in ’21, with 11 saves against UNC in the semis and 9 saves against ‘Cuse in the finals. The biggest return for this team is on the offensive side in Charlotte North; a rare talent who is dominant at every aspect of the game and who will go down as one of the best NCAA women’s lacrosse players of all time. Last season, she attributed 114 points (5th most all time in a single season), 31 of which were goals in the tournament (1st all-time in NCAA tournament history). On top of her scoring efficiency, she attributed 174 draw controls, and ultimately led the Eagles to the NCAA championship game, where she set the game record for goals with 6 in their victory over Syracuse. Joining the likes of North will be Jenn Medjid, another dangerous player on the attack who can score at will, Hunter Roman, who is young but very dominant on the defensive end and is coming back with more experience, Courtney Weeks who is dynamic at both ends of the field, adding both offensive efficiency and defensive prowess, and our UNLTD athlete Belle Smith, who is sky rocketing her career at BC by becoming a consensus All-American, and shattering the points and goals record for a freshman at BC, while contributing 4 points in the championship game against the Orange. Keep Smith on your radar as she is only going up from here. It is very possible that we will see this BC team competing for another chip this year.
Syracuse
Cuse is returning in 2022 with a chip on their shoulders after a tough loss to the Eagles in the NCAA championship. Hoping to find a little more consistency in the goalie position after starting/playing multiple players last year, and losing Asa Goldstock who led the country in goals against average with only 7.07, they will have an interesting competition between the redshirt junior Kimber Hower, the grad student Hannah Van Middelem, and the young sophomore Tate Paulson, as well as Delaney Sweitzer who transferred over from USC. On a more positive and encouraging note, the well balanced offense will have a lot of familiar faces. With their leader in Emily Hawryschuk, they will be getting their team leader in goals and points, as well as the second ranking player in the country in both goals and goals per game, while also being a top 5 player in points. In addition to Hawryschuk, both Megan Carney and UNLTD’s very own Sam Swart will be returning. Both of these women are highly efficient offensive players who provide a unique skillset and attributed the 2nd and 3rd most points on this runner-up Orange team in ’21. Sarah Cooper returning for her senior season will provide a strong core for the Cuse defense. She led the team in caused turnovers on the defense that led the nation in scoring defense, and her experience will help continue that trend. With probably the most struggles to face of the top teams as they try to repeat their performance from last year, Syracuse certainly should not be counted out of the race and we are excited to see what they will bring to the field this season.
Notre Dame
Notre Dame always seems to be teetering on the line of in the elite conversation and just very, very good. In recent years they’ve struggled to handle the goliaths of women’s lacrosse, and have handily lost to UNC, Boston College and Syracuse. With a lot of All-American players returning, the Irish might surprise a few people with the chemistry and trust they are going to bring to the table. These players include Goalie Bridget Deehan, UNLTD Athlete Kasey Choma who will command the offense as just a junior, Madison Mote who contributed 25 points after missing the first two games of the season, Hannah Dorney who plays as a duel-threat end-to-end middie and does a great job re-gaining possession for ND on the defensive side of the field, and Madison Ahern who is ranked #35 player in college lacrosse by U.S. Lacrosse Magazine amongst both men and women. The defensive end will be led by the more experienced Emma Schettig, and hopefully both Scutaro sisters if Kirsten can return and remain healthy throughout the season. There is also some promising defensive talent in Sophie Proctor and Aine Maseker who may become big contributors early on in their collegiate careers. ND is coming into this season hoping to cross the line into the elite conversation and has a lot to prove with little to lose after a disappointing quarterfinal exit last year. The Irish may be the most motivated team we will see this year, and they might surprise a few people.
Northwestern
We are really excited for this Northwestern team, who have the opportunity to make a big statement week 1 against the defending champs at BC. This team went undefeated in the regular season, with an upsetting first round loss to the Orange in the NCAA tournament. Madison Doucette will be returning in net for her senior season after recording 7+ saves more than 5 times last season. She will be looking for nothing less than a chip as she enters her last year on this time, and we expect some elite play from her. Although the defense is young, the promising Ally Palermo is returning with another year of experience, and Natalie Lopez should be an exciting new addition as she brings along a bunch of accolades to this program despite her inexperience at the collegiate level. On the offensive end Lauren Gilbert will be returning for a Grad year coming off of a year where she posed multiple goal games week in and week out, while being highly efficient on draws. Erin Coykendall will be coming back as a junior, and she is an assist machine who helps generate offense and readily sets up her teammates to score. Brennan Dwyer will continue to bring efficiency to both ends of the field, as she has previously dominated draws with a career game high of 21 draw controls. She also has the ability to cause turnovers, score and assist goals effectively. Northwestern has a lot of promise after coming off of a very successful season. We’re sure they are hoping to live up to the hype.
