TROY, N.Y. — On the heels of winning its seventh straight Liberty League title and reaching the national semifinals for the first time since 2003, William Smith lacrosse was recognized as the unanimous preseason favorite in 2024 Liberty League Women’s Lacrosse following a vote by the conference’s head coaches.
The Herons lead off the 2024 Liberty League Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll with 10 first-place votes for 100 points and Ithaca College, the 2023 Liberty League runner-up, was picked to finish second with 91 points and a first-place vote. St. Lawrence University was selected third with 70 points and not far behind in fourth is Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), compiling 69 points. Union College was predicted to finish in fifth and Vassar College in sixth with 64 and 50 points, respectively. The Garnet Chargers and Brewers were followed by Skidmore College (48), University of Rochester (46), Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT, 29), Clarkson University (28), and Bard College (10).
It is shaping up to be another close race in the Liberty League Women’s Lacrosse standings as 11 teams duke it out for seven conference playoff spots.
Locally, Skidmore also capped off the 2023 campaign with its first trip to the Liberty League tournament since 2019 as the Thoroughbreds finished the year at 8-9 overall (4-6 Liberty League). A veteran core returns to Saratoga to kick off 2024, including All-Liberty League second-team honoree Gabby Modesti. Modesti paced the team in scoring with 40 goals and 19 assists for 59 points. She was among the league’s top 10 in points per game (sixth, 3.69), and goals per game (eighth, 2.50) while scooping up 17 ground balls and causing eight turnovers. She will be joined by Jill Lockwood, who finished second on the team in points (38) and goals (32). Lockwood also added six assists, 22 ground balls, and eight caused turnovers. Ella Harris led the team in draw controls last season with 61. She also picked up 16 ground balls and caused eight turnovers. Goalie Liv Kazanijan is back after finishing the year sixth in save percentage (.450) and eighth in saves per game (6.67) among league leaders.
Skidmore’s season tees off on Feb. 24, at 3 p.m., as the Thoroughbreds host SUNY Cortland.
