TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Washington & Jefferson College, winners of three consecutive conference championships, was voted as the favorite in the 2024 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Women's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches' Poll, which was released Wednesday along with the league's Players to Watch list.

The preseason coaches' poll was voted on by the PAC's 10 head coaches.  

W&J, led by 11th-year head coach and 2023 PAC Coach of the Year Alison Valerio, received seven of 10 first-place votes and 79 total points. Allegheny College, who reached the PAC Tournament Championship game in their first season since rejoining the league after playing in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) previously, secured one first-place vote and 70 points. Coming in third in the poll was Chatham University with 67 points and Grove City College collected two first-place votes and 60 points to place fourth.

Franciscan University was picked fifth with 45 points and was followed by Saint Vincent College in sixth (41), Westminster College in seventh (37), Thiel College in eighth (25), Bethany College in ninth (20) and Waynesburg University (11). 

W&J captured its third PAC title in a row last spring after posting an unblemished 9-0 conference record in the regular season. In last year's PAC Tournament, the top-seeded Presidents edged Grove City 9-8 in the semifinals before they claimed a 14-10 victory over second-seeded Allegheny in the title game. W&J's conference crown sent them to the Division III Championship for the fourth time in program history, where they were defeated in the opening round by Meredith College, 16-11. 

The Players to Watch list features 18 players from the 2023 All-PAC teams, including seven First Team selections. Two major award winners will be back on the field this spring, including Grove City junior defender Sarah Jackson (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield) and W&J sophomore midfielder Caleigh Bogats (Oakdale, Pa./Chartiers Valley). 

A First Team All-PAC selection last year as a freshman, Jackson repeated as a First Team honoree and added the Defensive Player of the Year award after anchoring the Wolverines' defense in 2023. She ranked second in the conference with 37 caused turnovers for the season, with 22 of those coming in PAC play, and ranked third with 1.94 CTs per game. Grove City held four PAC teams to single-digit goals in a game, including the only shutout in the league last spring, a 22-0 victory over Waynesburg April 11. Jackson also tallied five goals and collected 55 ground balls, second on the team.

Bogats made an immediate impact on the W&J lineup in her freshman season. She was fourth on the team with 50 points, including 38 goals and 12 assists. Bogats was also solid in the field, as 28 of her 42 ground balls and 14 of her 20 caused turnovers last season came in games against PAC opponents. A two-time PAC Rookie of the Week selection, Bogats was big in the postseason, scoring three goals in the PAC title game win over Allegheny and adding a pair of goals in the NCAA Tournament match-up with Meredith.

The women are scheduled to play a full nine-game round robin conference schedule in 2024. The league's six-team championship tournament will begin with the quarterfinals on Tuesday, April 30, with the first and second seeds receiving byes. The PAC semifinals will be played Thursday, May 2, and the Championship game is scheduled for Saturday, May 4, with all games hosted by the higher seeds.

The winner of the PAC Championship Tournament will receive the league's automatic-qualifying bid to the Division III Championship. The field for this year's Division III Championship will be announced on Sunday, May 5. 
 

2024 PAC Women's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches' Poll (Predicted order of finish)
School (first-place votes)	Points	2023 records
1. W&J (7)	79	15-4, 9-0 PAC
2. Allegheny (1)	70	14-5, 8-1 PAC
3. Chatham	62	10-5, 6-3 PAC
4. Grove City (2)	60	8-11, 5-4 PAC
5. Franciscan	45	8-7, 6-3 PAC
6. Saint Vincent	41	11-7, 5-4 PAC
7. Westminster	37	5-11, 3-6 PAC
8. Thiel	25	6-10, 2-7 PAC
9. Bethany	20	5-12, 1-8 PAC
10. Waynesburg	11	3-13, 0-9 PAC

2024 PAC Women's Lacrosse Players to Watch

Allegheny
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Sybi Gerhart	Sr.	M	Denver, Pa./Cocalico
Amelia Henderson	So.	D	Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny
Emily Herrold	Sr.	M	Hampstead, Md./Manchester Valley
Lauren Petrarca	Jr.	M	Simi Valley, Calif./Royal
Kat Surdykowski	Fr.	D/M	Chesterfield, N.J./Northern Burlington County Regional

 

Bethany
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Abbie Carpenter	Jr.	A	Kent, Ohio/Kent Roosevelt
Janez Matthews	So.	D	Annapolis, Md./Annapolis
Sarah Sberna	Grad.	D	Sherrard, W.Va./John Marshall
Tatum Severe	Fr.	M	Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Bradley
Karley Trinidad	Sr.	A	Lusby, Md./Patuxent

 

Chatham
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Josie Barton	Jr.	D	Harmony, Pa./North Allegheny
Samantha Beall-Dennell	Sr.	M	Sykesville, Md./Century
Bailey Donofrio	Grad.	M	Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley
Erin Goodwin	Jr.	M	Milford, Conn./Jonathan Law

 

Franciscan
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Brooke Biagi	So.	M	Powell, Ohio/Bishop Watterson
Mary Bohli	Sr.	M	Fairfax, Va./St. John Paul the Great
Joanna Hilkert	Sr.	A	Danville, Pa./Danville Area
Theresa Lyle	Jr.	M	McMurray, Pa./Seton LaSalle
Ashley Morisey	Grad.	M	Crystal Beach, Fla./Natomas Charter School

  

Grove City
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Emily Arnold	Jr.	M	Ijamsville, Md./Urbana
Taylor Blythe	Fr.	A	Honeoye Falls, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima
Sarah Jackson	Jr.	D	Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield
Lucy Martin	Sr.	M	Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair
Madison Nazigian	5th	M	Forest, Va./Jefferson Forest

  

Saint Vincent
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Kyra Lipetzky	Sr.	G	Mount Airy, Md./Urbana
Bailey Nicely	So.	A	Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk
Gabby Salandro	Jr.	A	Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional
Alexandria Votovich	Jr.	D	Woodbridge, Va./Saint Paul the Great
Carolina Walters	So.	A	Latrobe, Pa./Homeschooled

 

Thiel
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Mary Cassano	Sr.	D	Fairview, Pa./McDowell
Madison Liggett	Sr.	G	Baltimore, Md./Catholic
Ashlyn Wightman	Sr.	M	Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler Area

   

W&J
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Caleigh Bogats	So.	M	Oakdale, Pa./Chartiers Valley
Kaitlyn Brown	Sr.	G	Charlotte Hall, Md./La Plata
Sofia Jenkins	Sr.	M	Hughesville, Md./The Calverton School
Aisa Uhler	Sr.	A	East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing

 

Waynesburg
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Angelina Darpino	Fr.	A	Baltimore, Md./Patapsco
Waverly Lorne	Fr.	M	New Providence, N.J./Governor Livingston
Ziomara Reyes	Fr.	D	Kearneysville, W.Va./Martinsburg
Ella Sheedy	So.	A	Ligonier, Pa./Ligonier Valley
Megan Wilson	Sr.	D	Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny

 

Westminster
Name	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Emma Brazier	So.	M	Northport, N.Y./Northport
Isabella Cespedes	So.	D	Merrick, N.J./Sanford H. Calhoun
Chloe Courinos	So.	A	Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk
Nina Rascona	Sr.	M	Somerset, Pa./Somerset
Samantha Reed	Sr.	M	Zionsville, Pa./Emmaus