SELINSGROVE, Pa. - Two Susquehanna University women's lacrosse players are once again ranked in the latest NCAA Division III statistics while the Crusaders are nationally ranked in a pair of team categories, through games of April 22.
Sophomore goalkeeper Giulia Umile is seventh in Division III in save while junior midfielder Liz Cipoletti is 14th in ground balls per game. The duo has helped the Crusaders to an 11-4 overall record and the Middle Atlantic Conference regular-season championship with a 6-1 league mark.
The Crusaders will have home-field advantage for the four-team MAC playoffs, which begin with semifinal action on Wednesday, May 2 and conclude with the finals on Saturday, May 5. The conference postseason champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse championship.
Umile (Blue Bell, Pa./Gwynedd-Mercy Academy) slipped from fourth to seventh in Division III in save percentage with a .640 mark, having made 183 saves while permitting 103 goals in 14 games. A first-team Middle Atlantic Conference All-Star last season as a freshman, Umile finished 11th in Division III in save percentage last season and 13th in goals against average at 7.69.
Cipoletti (Fort Salonga, N.Y./Northport H.S.) has picked up 82 ground balls in the Crusaders' first 14 games for an average of 5.86 per game. Last season, Cipoletti ranked second on the team after scooping 54 ground balls in 16 games (4.0 average). She has scored eight goals and dished off eight assists for the Crusaders this season.
For the season, Susquehanna has corralled 667 ground balls in 14 matches (47.64 per game) to rank second in Division III behind Cortland State (52.55). The Crusaders' team goals-against average of 7.36 ranks 20th in the nation.
Susquehanna will await the end of the Middle Atlantic Conference regular-season schedule on Saturday to find out their opponent in the MAC semifinals next Wednesday at the West Lacrosse Field.
