Women's lacrosse season begins with two games in California

2/14/2025 3:40:00 PM

By: Angela Roberts, Associate AD-Communications

DURANGO, Colo. – Skyhawks women's lacrosse will travel to California to kick off the 2025 season against Saint Michael's College and Dominican University for a Sunday and Tuesday split.

Scouting Saint Michael's
The Purple Knights were 3-10 last season and sit at 0-1 in 2025 after a 17-8 loss to Dominican on Thursday. Head coach Ashley Snow is in her second season at the helm after coaching three NE10 Conference All-Rookie honorees in 2024. Saint Michael's returns 16 players and has added seven newcomers to the roster.

The team returns its top two producers in draw controls, ground balls, and caused turnovers while adding a junior college All-American transfer to the mix. 14 players who appeared in 10 games last season are returning to the field.

In its first game this season, the Purple Knights put up 26 shots compared to 40 for Dominican. They had 22 ground balls, 12 draws, and 10 caused turnovers. Sophomore Ginnie Hamilton led the team with four goals in the loss, followed by Mia Sullivan with two. Hamilton also added four draws, three caused turnovers, and three ground balls. Maddie Nutter played all 60 minutes between the pipes and made 13 saves.

Scouting Dominican
The Penguins are 1-0 this season after defeating Saint Michael's on Thursday. The win marked NCAA DII history as they were the first Division II women's lacrosse program in California to host an NCAA regular-season match. In 2024, just their second season as a program, Dominican turned in a 3-8 overall record.

Dominican scored 17 goals on 38 shots on Thursday to go along with 13 assists, 30 ground balls, 13 caused turnovers, and 17 draws. Morgan Newkirk was the leading goal scorer with five, and Taylor Pieri was the top point-producer with eight (two goals, six assists). Elke Moerkeseth earned seven ground balls and four caused turnovers. Natalie Oyler played 57 minutes in the win and collected 10 saves.

Looking Back
Fort Lewis is coming off a 3-11 season that featured a 2-8 mark in conference play and a 1-4 record at home. The Skyhawks picked up wins over Southern Wesleyan University (25-3) and CSU Pueblo (10-9 and 13-9).

Four players earned All-Conference accolades, highlighted by senior Caprietta Abbadessa who landed on the First Team. Now-junior Sydney Tannaci landed on the Second Team after racking up offensive and defensive statistics throughout the season. She wrapped up the year with career marks in goals (7), ground balls (25), caused turnovers (23), and draw controls (18).

Rising junior Samantha Rodgers was named to the Honorable Mention All-Conference team for the second-straight year after anchoring the stingy Skyhawks defense. The Idaho native ranked second in the conference in caused turnovers per game (2.36) and third in ground balls per game (3.36). In total, she compiled 47 ground balls and 33 caused turnovers through 14 games. Her ground ball and caused turnover totals rank second all-time in single-season program history.

Up Next
Fort Lewis will turn its attention to Saturday, March 1 when it heads to Denver for a neutral site contest against Davenport University at 3:00 p.m.

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