Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/2/17
From Press Release
Two veteran Temple lacrosse student-athletes have been named to the 2017 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, while the Owls were picked to finish fifth of 10 teams in the BIG EAST Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
Graduate student Brenda McDermott (North Penn) and senior Morgan Glassford (Strath Haven) were two of 15 players named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team in a vote by the league’s 10 head coaches.
After being hampered by injury for much of her career as an Owl, McDermott had a breakout season in 2016. She was named to the BIG EAST First Team after tying for third on the team with 26 goals and leading Temple with 22 assists for 48 total points. McDermott scored a career-high five goals while adding an assist in a win at UMBC, and notched four hat tricks over the course of the season. In late April, she was named the BIG EAST Attacker of the Week after totaling a league-best 11 total points in two crucial wins for the Owls against Villanova and Cincinnati.
Glassford was another key factor in a breakthrough season for the Owls last year, earned IWLCA All-Region Second Team honors, BIG EAST First Team honors and selection to the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team. She scored 23 goals to rank fifth on the team, adding four assists for 27 total points. Her 78 draw controls led the BIG EAST Conference and placed first all-time at Temple in a single season, With 4.11 draw controls per game she ranked 18th among all players in NCAA Division I, and with 101 career draw controls she already ranks ninth all-time at Temple with one season left to play.
As a team, Temple was picked to finish fifth in the league in 2017. The Owls tied for third in the league last season before finishing as tournament runners-up, but lost 12 seniors to graduation. With 10 freshmen and two redshirt freshmen on a roster of 28, Temple will be a young team this year, but the Owls are coming off a strong fall season. The conference has expanded from eight to 10 teams in 2017 with the addition of Denver and Butler, but will still have just four teams in the BIG EAST Tournament, slated for May 4-6 at Villanova.
The league champion is predicted to be the same for a third consecutive year as the conference’s head coaches unanimously selected Florida to three-peat. The Gators earned all 81 available points and swept the preseason major awards as attackers Sammi Burgess and Lindsey Ronbeck shared BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year plaudits and defender Caroline Fitzgerald was the undisputed pick as Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
The BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll, major awards and all-conference selections are based on ballots cast by the league’s 10 head coaches, who cannot vote for their own team or student-athletes.
Connecticut garnered 68 points to finish second in the preseason poll, followed by Georgetown with 63 for third. The newest affiliate member of BIG EAST women’s lacrosse, Denver claimed fourth with 55 points, followed by 2016 BIG EAST Championship runner-up Temple in fifth with 45. Marquette (sixth, 41), Vanderbilt (seventh, 40), Villanova (eighth, 31) and Cincinnati (ninth, 17) round out the returners, while Butler, in its first season of sponsoring women’s lacrosse, finished in 10th with nine points. The Commodores claimed the final available first-place vote.
BIG EAST Women’s Lacrosse
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1. Florida (9) 81
2. Connecticut 68
3. Georgetown 63
4. Denver 55
5. Temple 45
6. Marquette 41
7. Vanderbilt (1) 40
8. Villanova 31
9. Cincinnati 17
10. Butler 9
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Taylor Bresnahan, Florida, Sr., D
Sammi Burgess, Florida, Sr., A*
Cassie Ekstrom, Connecticut, Jr. D
Caroline Fitzgerald, Florida, Sr., D*
Morgan Glassford (Strath Haven), Temple, Sr., M*
Callahan Kent, Vanderbilt, Sr., GK
Allison Lane, Marquette, Jr., M*
Brenda McDermott (North Penn), Temple, Grad., A
Nicole Martindale, Denver, R-Jr., A
Grace Nolan, Connecticut, Jr., A*
Shayna Pirreca, Florida, Jr., A
Lindsey Ronbeck, Florida, So., A*
Julianna Shearer, Marquette, Sr., A
Mollie Stevens, Florida, Sr., M
Francesca Whitehurst, Georgetown, So., M*
Preseason Co-Offensive Players of the Year
Sammi Burgess, Florida, Sr., A
Lindsey Ronbeck, Florida, So., A
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Caroline Fitzgerald, Florida, Sr., D*
*unanimous selection
