SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Detroit Mercy swept the women’s lacrosse all-conference awards with a league-leading nine players selected between the first team, second team and the all-freshman team, as voted on by the league’s six coaches. The Titans’ Kaitlyn Wandelt was named SoCon Offensive Player of the Year and Allison McDonough was named SoCon Defensive Player of the Year, while Meredith Moore claimed SoCon Freshman of the Year honors and Laurie Merian was named the inaugural SoCon Coach of the Year.
The first team is made up of 12 players while the second team has 13 due to a tie in voting. The all-freshman team consists of the six highest vote-getters regardless of position.
Central Michigan totals eight all-conference selections while Furman and Mercer each garnered six and Wofford totaled two.
A redshirt sophomore, Wandelt paced the league in goals, scoring 23 in just five SoCon contests. Overall on the season, the Sayville, New York, native led the league in goals (59), points (80) and shots (128), tying for fifth in assists with 21. The midfielder’s 80 points were a career-high and are just three points short of the Detroit Mercy single-season record. Wandelt, who was named player of the month in February, was 6-for-12 in free-position opportunities and had a team-high 20 draw controls in SoCon matches.
A junior goalkeeper, McDonough led the Titans to a 4-1 record, going 10-7 overall. The Vero Beach, Florida, native racked up 159 saves on the season while picking up a team-high 48 ground balls. McDonough had eight games in which she had 10 or more saves and 11 with nine or more saves. In the season finale against Central Michigan, the net-minder recorded 12 saves to help Detroit Mercy clinch the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SoCon Championship.
Also hailing from Vero Beach, Florida, Moore totaled the second-most points in the league among freshamn with 36, notching 21 goals while dishing out 15 assists. The midfielder led all freshmen with 18 caused turnovers and 31 ground balls. In Detroit Mercy’s 17-9 win over Central Michigan, Moore scored two goals, had one assist, cause two turnovers and won one draw control.
Merian, who is in her second year as coach of Detroit Mercy, guided the Titans to a 10-7 record overall, going 4-1 in the conference to clinch a share of the regular-season championship and earn the No. 1 overall seed for the SoCon Championship.
Joining Wandelt and McDonough on the first team are Lexie Kinmond (A), Morgan Girardi (M) and Lauren Webley (D), giving Detroit Mercy a league-high five players on the first team. The Titans’ Jordyn Beam (A) and Brittany Fenney (D) were named All-SoCon second team while Kristina Ellis (A) joins Moore on the all-freshman team.
Central Michigan’s Natalie Karlen (A), Jocelyne Lemay (M) and Shannon Doyle represent the Chippewas on the first team. Central Michigan is tied with Furman for most members earning all-conference second team honors as Anna Schoonover (A), Tyra Prince (M), Logan Halvorson (D) and Dominique Hamman (GK) were all named to the squad. Midfielder Hannah Potter was the sole Chippewa to be named to the all-freshman team. Central Michigan went 4-1 in league play, clinching a share of the regular-season title and the No. 2 overall seed in the SoCon Championship.
Mercer, which went 3-2 in SoCon play to earn the No. 4 seed, also boasted three players on the first team in Kate Leone (A), Lindsey Zeltwanger (M) and Audrey Robertson (D). Erica Coyne (A) and Michela Lucas (D) represent Mercer on the second team, while Sami Van Slyke (MF) was the lone Bear named to the all-freshman team.
Furman defender Morgan Franklin is the lone Paladin to earn All-SoCon first team honors, while Abby Shields (A), Sophie Brennan (M) and Meg Lingo (M) grabbed all-conference second team honors. Avery Whitehead (D) was named to both the all-conference second team and all-freshman team. The Paladins, who were 3-2 in conference play, earned the No. 3 seed due to their head-to-head win against Mercer on April 6.
Wofford defender Monica Branch was named to the All-SoCon second team while rookie attacker Hannah Mutch was named to the all-freshman team.
The inaugural SoCon Women’s Lacrosse Championship begins Thursday, May 3 in Macon, Georgia, with No. 1 Detroit Mercy facing No. 4 Mercer, followed by No. 2 Central Michigan against No. 3 Furman. The championship match will be played Saturday, May 5 at noon.
2018 Offensive Player of the Year
Kaitlyn Wandelt, M, Detroit Mercy
2018 Defensive Player of the Year
Allison McDonough, GK, Detroit Mercy
2018 Freshman of the Year
Meredith Moore, M, Detroit Mercy
2018 Coach of the Year
Laurie Merian, Detroit Mercy
2018 All-Southern Conference First Team
A - Natalie Karlen, So., Central Michigan
A - Kate Leone, Sr., Mercer
A - Lexie Kinmond, Jr., Detroit Mercy
M - Jocelyne Lemay, Jr., Central Michigan
M - Morgan Girardi, Jr., Detroit Mercy
M - Kaitlyn Wandelt, R-So., Detroit Mercy
M - Lindsey Zeltwanger, Sr., Mercer
D - Shannon Doyle, So., Central Michigan
D - Lauren Webley, Sr., Detroit Mercy
D - Morgan Franklin, So., Furman
D - Audrey Robertson, Jr., Mercer
GK - Allison McDonough, Jr., Detroit Mercy
2018 All-Southern Conference Second Team (13 Players due to a tie in voting)
A - Anna Schoonover, Jr., Central Michigan
A - Jordyn Beam, Sr., Detroit Mercy
A - Abby Shields, Jr., Furman
A - Erica Coyne, Sr., Mercer
M - Tyra Prince, So., Central Michigan
M - Sophie Brennan, Jr., Furman
M - Meg Lingo, Sr., Furman
D - Logan Halvorson, Jr., Central Michigan
D - Brittany Fenney, Sr., Detroit Mercy
D - Avery Whitehead, Fr., Furman
D - Michela Lucas, So., Mercer
D - Monica Branch, Jr., Wofford
GK - Dominique Hamman, Jr., Central Michigan
2018 Southern Conference All-Freshman team
A - Kristina Ellis, Fr., Detroit Mercy
A - Hannah Mutch, Fr., Wofford
M - Hannah Potter, Fr., Central Michigan
M - Meredith Moore, Fr., Detroit Mercy
M - Sami Van Slyke, Fr., Mercer
D - Avery Whitehead, Fr., Furman
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