Women’s Lacrosse Hosts Elmhurst for Senior Day

Titans take on Bluejays for regular season finale

4/25/2025 12:12:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Slated to play its regular season finale Saturday, April 26, the Illinois Wesleyan University women's lacrosse team will host Elmhurst University for a special Senior Day inside Tucci Stadium. Action is set to begin at 3 p.m. and will follow the conclusion of the men's lacrosse game against Carroll that is scheduled for a 12 p.m. start.

The Titans enter the contest with an overall record of 7-8, and are 2-2 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin contests. IWU most recently dropped a close contest with Carthage College, falling 10-8 Saturday, April 19. Trailing by as many as six goals, Illinois Wesleyan got back within one with just over nine minutes to play but could never find the equalizer. Senior Mia Fiandaca (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) led the team with three goals for a trio of points, along with five draw controls, and four caused turnovers. Senior Lizzie Rymarcsuk (Lake Zurich, Ill.-Saint Viator) kept the Green and White in the contest the entire way, making 12 saves in goal. Junior Sarah Riepe (Aurora, Ill.-St. Francis) tallied team-highs of five caused turnovers and six ground balls.

Fiandaca and fellow senior Avery Setzler (Bloomington, Ill.-Bloomington) sit atop the team in points, each having notched 33. Fiandaca leads the team with 31 goals, while Setzler is third in goals and tied for second in assists with 22 and 11, respectively. Junior Sadie Newton (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) closely follows with 32 points, coming by way of 23 goals, the second-most on the squad, and nine assists. Junior Anelise DiGiovanni (Lockport, Ill.-Lockport Township) holds a team-high in assists with 14. With 11 helpers apiece, freshman Maddie Gibson (Fenton, Mo.-Rockwood Summit) and junior Carleigh Fountain (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) join Setzler in a tie for second on the squad.

At the draw, Newton's 52 draw controls lead the Titans, followed by 46 from Fiandaca, and Setzler with 28. Rymarcsuk has scooped up 44 ground balls, the most by a Titan this season, while Fiandaca and Setzler are tied for second, having recorded 42 apiece.

Entering the contest with a team-leading 49 caused turnovers, Fiandaca needs just two forced miscues to break the program's single-season caused turnovers record, set by Devon Hanson with 50 a season ago. Newton's 28 caused turnovers are good for second, followed by 19 from Riepe. The trio has helped spearhead an IWU defense that ranks 14th nationally, and first in the conference, in caused turnovers per game, averaging 14.07.

Rymarcsuk leads the team in goal this season, having recorded 145 saves in 792:15 minutes of work. The senior leads the CCIW in saves with 145, and saves per game with an average of 9.67, which ranks 31st and 44th across Division III, respectively. The Lake Zurich, Ill. native enters Saturday's matchup with a .479 save percentage and a 7-8 record between the iron.

The Titans will face the Bluejays for the ninth time, and own a 7-1 edge in the series. In the most recent meeting, April 17, 2024, Illinois Wesleyan secured a 16-6 win on the road. The contest saw the Green and White's record book get rewritten, as Britney Maldonado took down the single-season points record, while Devon Hanson secured the single-season caused turnovers record. Finishing with a game-high 10 points, Maldonado surpassed the previous record of 96, set by Grainne Kelly in 2019. Hanson notched her 50th caused turnover of the season, besting Dani Engelbreit's record of 42 during the 2017 campaign. Fountain finished with a team-high five goals, while Newton tallied a game-high six draw controls. Rymarcsuk made four saves in goal en route to the win.

Prior to the start of the game, IWU will honor its four seniors, Mia Fiandaca, Avery Setzler, Lizzie Rymarcsuk, and Mallory Mills. The quartet has helped guide the Titans to 28 wins and four CCIW Tournament appearances over the past four seasons.

Pregame festivities will occur prior to the 3 p.m. start, following the conclusion of the men's lacrosse game. A link to the live stream can be found here, and live stats can be accessed by clicking here.

Print Friendly Version