SPARTANBURG, S.C. – First-year Southern Conference women’s lacrosse associate member Coastal Carolina has been picked to finish first for the 2021 season by the league’s five head coaches, who also selected a 12-member preseason All-SoCon team.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams or student-athletes. Four of the five teams in the conference were represented on the preseason team, with Furman and Mercer sharing league-high honors with four selections apiece.
The Chanticleers maxed out with the four possible first-place votes and a total of 16 points in their first preseason poll as a member of the SoCon. The Furman Paladins were selected to finish second with 12 total points and one first-place vote, with the 2019 SoCon tournament champion, Mercer, in a close third with 11 points. Wofford and Delaware State rounded out the poll with seven and four points, respectively.
Coastal Carolina went 2-3 during the 2020 season before it was cut short due to COVID-19 and held a 12-6 overall record (4-2 ASUN) during the 2019 campaign. The Chanticleers have three members on the preseason All-SoCon team in Samantha Courtemanche at attack and Sarah Trupp and Emily D’Orsaneo as defenders. Courtemanche earned 2020 ASUN Preseason All-Conference honors and was also named to the 2019 ASUN all-conference first team. The graduate student from Ellicott City, Maryland, led the team with 18 points on eight goals and 10 assists during the shortened 2020 season. Trupp graduated in May 2020 from Stetson University, where she set the program record with 64 career caused turnovers and earned 2019 ASUN second-team all-conference honors. Last season, the Brightwaters, New York, native scooped up 22 ground balls and caused seven turnovers. Joining Trupp on the preseason squad at defense is D’Orsaneo, who also earned 2020 ASUN preseason all-conference honors before picking up a team-high 11 ground balls and five turnovers during the shortened 2020 campaign.
Furman was selected to finish second. The Paladins have attacker Hannah Demis, midfielders Sydney Catts and Lauren Farber, and defender Avery Whitehead on the preseason squad. Demis was also selected to the 2020 preseason all-conference team and led the conference with 37 assists during the 2019 season. The senior scored 30 goals for 67 points in 2019, and put up 28 points in the Paladins’ seven games last season. Catts represents the Paladins in the midfield after notching 18 points on 16 goals and two assists in 2019. She finished second on the team with 43 draw controls and scooped up 26 ground balls. In 2020, the senior from Alpharetta, Georgia, started in all seven games with four goals and was third on the team with 10 draw controls won. Farber joins Catts in the midfield after she completed last season with four goals, three assists, six ground balls and four draw control wins over seven games. Whitehead, who earned preseason all-conference honors last year and second-team all-conference honors during the 2019 season, rounds out Furman’s preseason selections. Whitehead started in each 2020 game and led the conference with 15 ground balls, while also causing seven turnovers.
The 2020 preseason favorite Mercer Bears came in just behind Furman with 11 points after finishing last season 5-2 overall and put attackers Hailey Rhatigan and Eva Thorn, midfielder Lily Morin and goalkeeper Iseabal Cryne on the preseason team. A preseason pick for the second straight season, Rhatigan started all seven games in 2020 and recorded 23 goals, 11 assists and 34 points on the season. The Holbrook, New York, native led the conference in goals per game (3.29), points per game (4.86) and game-winning goals with an average of 0.43 per game. Joining Rhatigan at attack is Thorn, who recorded 18 goals, 11 assists and 29 points during her 2020 season. She led the Bears in free-position goals (seven) and registered a .750 shots-on-goal percentage. Midfielder Morin won 21 draw controls last season as a senior, adding 14 goals, eight assists and a total of 22 points. Second-year preseason goalkeeper Cryne rounds out the Bears’ representation on the preseason squad after recording 43 saves and 118 shots faced last season. Cryne also led the SoCon in save percentage (.467) and was named the 2020 SoCon Defensive Player of the Week on Feb. 18.
Wofford placed fourth with seven total points, with defender Hannah Wurzel representing the Terriers on the preseason squad. Wurzel led Wofford in her 2019 campaign in draw controls (39), while scoring a total of 22 points over 17 goals and five assists. The senior scooped up eight groundballs throughout Wofford’s five games of the 2020 season.
Delaware State rounds out the 2021 preseason all-conference poll in fifth with 4 points.
The 2021 Southern Conference women’s lacrosse season begins on Saturday, Feb. 12, at 3 p.m. ET when the Furman Paladins travel to East Carolina. The championship semifinal matches will be hosted by Mercer on May 6 at Five Star Stadium in Macon, Georgia. Two days later, a champion will be crowned when the SoCon Championship final match takes place.
2021 Preseason All-Southern Conference Team
A Samantha Courtemanche, Coastal Carolina, Gr.
A Hannah Demis, Furman, Sr.
A Hailey Rhatigan, Mercer, Jr.
A Eva Thorn, Mercer, Gr.
M Sydney Catts, Furman, Sr.
M Lauren Farber, Furman, Jr.
M Lily Morin, Mercer, Gr.
D Emily D’Orsaneo, Coastal Carolina, Gr.
D Sarah Trupp, Coastal Carolina, Gr.
D Avery Whitehead, Furman, Sr.
D Hannah Wurzel, Wofford, Sr.
GK Iseabal Cryne, Mercer, Sr.
2021 Preseason Southern Conference Coaches Poll
Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. Coastal Carolina (4) 16
2. Furman (1) 12
3. Mercer 11
4. Wofford 7
5. Delaware State 4
-www.SoConSports.com-