Top-Seeded Saints Start GNAC Postseason Hosting No. 5 South-Seeded Lasell

BOSTON – After completing their third undefeated conference regular season in program history, the Emmanuel Saints women's lacrosse program has clinched home field advantage throughout the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Postseason and the No. 1 seed in the GNAC North Division in 2024.

The top-seeded Saints welcome the No. 5 seed in the South Division, the Lasell University Lasers, after the Lasers beat the No. 4 seed Elms College Blazers, 9-8 in overtime, on Thursday night in the GNAC Play-In Round.

Emmanuel's high-octane offense and lockdown defense have played their parts in the success of the Saints this season, scoring the third-most goals (176) and allowing the fourth-fewest (72) in conference play this season.

Leading the Saints offense is the 1-2 punch of sophomores Livia Fedele (Spencerport, N.Y.) and Madeline Wright (Mattapoisett, Mass.), who have 69 and 68 points respectively. Among all players in the GNAC, the Saints, Johnson & Wales, and Lasell, are the only programs with at least two players inside the top-10 in points in the conference this year.

Fedele, who reached the 100-career point mark earlier this season, is continuing to build on what was an impressive rookie season for the Saints. Now, the second-year attack has 43 goals and 26 assists for a team-high 69 points.

Wright, the Little East Conference (LEC) Rookie of the Year in 2023, transferred in from UMass Dartmouth and made an immediate impact to the tune of a team-leading 61 goals, which ranks second in the GNAC. The sophomore midfielder is just one of three players in team history with a 60-goal season.

Junior Dejaliyah Srimouksavanh (Portsmouth, N.H.) is third on the team with 49 points, sophomore Ella Marschitz (Naperville, Ill.) is next with 36 points, and junior Rachel Canedy (Woodstock, Conn.) rounds out the top-five Saints point-getters with 27 this year.

On the defensive side, junior Delaney Brown (Agawam, Mass.) has been excellent in her third season, leading the team with 49 caused turnovers, third-most in the GNAC and just four CT's shy of the single-season program record. Her 52 ground balls also leads all Saints.

Second among Saints defenders in the caused turnover stat is sophomore Alexandra Gencarelli (Bradford, R.I.), whose 17 CT's are good for fourth-most on the team. Brown, Wright, Srimouksavanh, and Gencarelli are among a group of four Saints who average at least one ground ball and one caused turnover per game.

Between the pipes for the Saints is junior Isabella Thomas (Miami, Fla.), who has played all 1,020 minutes in goal this season, making her just one of three Saints to ever play at least 1,000 minutes in a single season.

Thomas is enjoying career-highs in wins and goals against average this season. Among all GNAC goalies with at least 12 starts, Thomas ranks first with 13 wins and sixth with an 8.76 GAA. As it stands, the GAA would make Thomas just the second player in team history with a season-GAA under 10.00.

Answering the 1-2 Saints punch is the Lasers combo of seniors Teresa Kessner (Brentwood, N.Y.) and Kaitlin Bedell (Londonderry, N.H.). Kessner leads the conference with 75 goals in 17 games this season and sits in a tie for second in points with 87. Bedell follows close behind with 56 goals, fifth-most in the GNAC and 71 points, sixth-most in the league.

First-year Emily Watson (Gilford, N.H.) and senior Annarita Sanfilippo (Gloucester, Mass.) are the final two Lasers to average at least one point per game with Watson tallying 25 points and Sanfilippo adding 24.

Bedell leads the caused turnover charge for the Lasers, causing 25 turnovers against opponents this season. Junior Shannon Borbee (Burlington, Mass.) is second on the team in CT's with 21. Watson and grad student Natalia Cullen (Pawcatuck, Conn.) chip in with 16 caused turnovers each.

In the Lasers goal is sophomore Joy Sayah (Rockland, Mass.), who like Thomas, has played every minute of the 1,027 minutes played by Lasell this season. Sayah is 8-9 with a 12.09 GAA and the fifth-best save percentage in the conference at 49.4 percent.

The Saints and Lasers didn't meet this season with the newly formed GNAC Divisional Structure but the 2023 meeting favored the Saints, 21-8. All-time, the Saints are 5-7 against Lasell, but Emmanuel has won three straight meetings.