Women's Lacrosse Season Opener Feb. 24, 2023

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Women’s Lacrosse Eyes 2023 Season Opener

Titans set to host IWU Triangular Feb. 24-26

2/23/2023 10:00:00 AM

Coach Kelly on the Titan Table Talk

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's lacrosse program is set to open the 2023 season with home field advantage, as the team will host Rhodes College and Colorado College for a weekend triangular Friday-Sunday, Feb. 24-26, inside Tucci Stadium.

The Titans are set to open the season against Rhodes College Friday, Feb. 24 at 4 p.m., then will take on Colorado College at 12 p.m. Sunday. Rhodes and CC will face off Saturday at 1 p.m. in a neutral site game.

Illinois Wesleyan will be led by Grainne Kelly, as the 2019 IWU graduate assumed the head coaching role this past fall. This season's roster is made up of 12 returners and seven newcomers.

Senior Sarah Gleason (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) returns as the top scorer for the Titans after recording 34 goals and seven assists in the 2022 campaign. Sophomore Mia Fiandaca (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) and junior Britney Maldonado (Hoffman Estates, Ill.-James B Conant) look to remain among IWU's top offensive players after notching 38 and 27 points last season, respectively. Fiandaca also leads all returners in draw controls with 53.

The Titan defense will be led by senior Jennie Hubbard (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles East), who scooped up 43 ground balls and caused 21 turnovers last season, the most by a returning player. Fiandaca looks to prove her two-way play, as the midfielder was third on the team last season in caused turnovers (17) and was credited with 22 ground balls. Senior Rebecca Rymarcsuk (Lake Zurich, Ill.-Lake Zurich Senior) returns as the most experienced goalkeeper, as she logged 750:37 minutes and 131 saves between the posts last season.

The match against Rhodes Friday, Feb. 24 will mark the seventh meeting between the two programs with Rhodes holding a 5-1 advantage. The most recent matchup took place on Feb. 27, 2022 in Memphis, Tenn. with the Lynx winning 18-5. Hubbard led the match with six ground balls, while then-sophomore Hannah Trousdale (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-Hoffman Estates) tallied a goal in the setback. Rhodes enters the contest after falling to the University of Alabama in Huntsville 11-10, Wednesday, Feb. 15.

The Titans will face Colorado College for the fifth time, all of which have been won by the Tigers. The two programs last faced off Feb. 26, 2022 with CC taking a 21-7 win. In her first game for the Green and White, Fiandaca picked up her first career goal. Then-freshman Lizzie Rymarcsuk (Lake Zurich, Ill.-Saint Viator) led the match with eight saves in her first career appearance. CC will host Bates College Thursday, Feb. 23 before making the trek to IWU.

For information about the triangular, including live streams and live stats for each match, click here.

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