Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/29/13
From Press Release and Staff Reports
Stanford women’s lacrosse was picked to finish first in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The conference has a number of Philly girls expected to make big impacts.
The Cardinal received 59 points and four first-place votes to top the preseason poll for the fourth consecutive year. Oregon received three first-place votes and was ranked second, and Denver received two first-place votes and was ranked third. California, San Diego State, UC Davis, USC, Fresno State and St. Mary’s round out the preseason poll rankings, respectively.
Stanford will pursue its eighth MPSF Championship in nine years after falling to Oregon 13-10, in last year’s championship game. It will also look to reach the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history after making the tournament two consecutive seasons in 2010 and 2011.
Stanford returns nine starters and 16 letterwinners from the 2012 team that finished with an 8-10 overall, 5-2 MPSF record. One of the returning starters is sophomore close defender Rachel Kalick (Great Valley).
For Oregon, two freshman from Great Valley, defender Jackie Moccia and goalie Jenna Morris, are vying for time.
At Denver, senior defender Kate Henrich (Germantown Academy) is a two-time all-conference player. She also was selected to the All-MPSF Tournament Team last year and earned Academic All-MPSF while leading the nation in caused turnovers per game (3.07).
California features two Philly freshmen, attack Nicole Beck (Hatboro-Horsham) and defender Michele DeVincent.
USC, in its first year of play, features freshman midfielder Haleigh Dalmass (Moorestown).
At UC Davis, the first-year head coach is Kate Henwood, who guided Garnet Valley to consecutive PIAA championships in 2011 and 2012. Henwood, the 2011 Phillylacrosse.com Coach of the Year, is a Garnet Valley and La Salle University grad. She has one Philly player, freshman attack Sam Oxenroth.
At Fresno State, Unionville grad Sara Lautenbach is an assistant coach. Lautenbach formerly was head coach at Holy Family and an assistant at Drexel.
2013 MPSF Preseason Coaches’ Ranking
1. Stanford
2. Oregon
3. Denver
4. California
5. San Diego State
6. UC Davis 28
7. USC
8. Fresno State
9. St. Mary’s
