EAST COAST CONFERENCE For Immediate Release Media Relations Tuesday, January 23, 2018 Twitter: @ECCSports Casey Rafferty Facebook: /eccsports [email protected] www.eccsports.org YouTube: /EastCoastConference Instagram: @ECCSports LIU Post Atop ECC Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll Isnardi and Kirk Tabbed Preseason Players of the Year

West Babylon, N.Y. – After winning each of the past three East Coast Conference Womenʹs Lacrosse Championships, LIU Post has been selected by the conferenceʹs coaches as the favorite to win the league title once again in 2018. Mercy junior mdifielder, Hunter Isnardi (Hicksville, N.Y.) has been named the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while LIU Post senior goalkeeper Oliva Kirk (Farmingdale, N.Y.) takes home the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year award.

LIU Post earned five of nine first place votes to top the poll with 77 points. The Pioneers, who finished the 2017 campaign with a 16‐3 record, won their third straight ECC Championship and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Championship in 2017. LIU Post also begins the season ranked No. 6 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division II Preseason Poll.

Mercy and NYIT are next up in the poll behind LIU Post. Mercy comes in at No. 2 with 71 points and three first place votes. The Mavericks put together the most successful season in program history a year ago, finishing with a 16‐4 record while also advancing to the ECC Championship final and earning the programʹs first‐ever NCAA Championship berth. NYIT, who earned the final first place vote and comes in at No. 3 with 65 points, made it a trio of ECC womenʹs lacrosse teams that earned NCAA Championship berths in 2017, doing so with a 16‐4 record in the programʹs inaugural season.

The ECC Womenʹs Lacrosse Championship bracket expands to six teams this season, meaning No. 4 Molloy, No. 5 Roberts Wesleyan, and No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas round out the expected playoff teams.

Isnardi earns the preseason honor after capturing the ECC Offensive Player of the Year award last season. As a sophomore, the midfielder scored 71 goals and added eight assists for 78 points on the season. Her goal total was good for 3.55 goals per game, which ranked 17th in Division II. Isnardi was unstoppable on draw controls as well, snagging an NCAA Division II single‐season record 182 on the season. She also ranked second in the country with 9.1 draw controls per game. In addition to the Offensive Player of the Year honor, her outstanding season earned her a spot on the ECC All‐ Conference, IWLCA All‐North Region, and IWLCA All‐America First Teams.

Kirk earns the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year accolade after winning both ECC and IWLCA Division II Goalkeeper of the Year honors for the second straight season. In 2017, the two‐time First Team All‐American compiled a 16‐3 record in the cage. She accumulated 138 saves on the season to post a save percentage of .543 and a goals against average of 6.42. Her save percentage led Division II for the second straight year while the goals against average mark ranked fourth in the nation.

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2018 ECC Womenʹs Lacrosse Preseason Poll School Points Last Yearʹs Record 1. LIU Post (5) 77 16‐3 (8‐0 ECC) 2. Mercy (3) 71 16‐4 (6‐2 ECC) 3. NYIT (1) 65 15‐4 (7‐1 ECC) 4. Molloy 55 10‐5 (4‐4 ECC) 5. Roberts Wesleyan 43 7‐11 (4‐4 ECC) 6. St. Thomas Aquinas 36 5‐11 (3‐5 ECC) 7. Bridgeport 31 9‐6 (3‐5 ECC) 8. Queens 17 3‐12 (1‐7 ECC) 9. Dist. Columbia 10 1‐11 (0‐8 ECC)

( ) ‐ first place votes

Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Hunter Isnardi, Jr., M, Mercy Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Olivia Kirk, Sr., GK, LIU Post

*********************************** About the ECC

Founded as the Collegiate Athletic Conference in 1989 and rechristened the East Coast Conference in July 2006, the ECC was formed to enhance intercollegiate athletic competition among member institutions and to assist them in integrating athletics into their academic program in a fiscally sound way. The ECC is committed to the highest standards of scholarship, sportsmanship, teamwork, and citizenship. Its mission is to promote the total person concept in its student‐athletes, which stresses the abilities to excel in academic achievement, athletic competition, and positive character traits. East Coast Conference members include: (Bridgeport, Conn.); University of the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.); (Amherst, N.Y.); LIU Post (Brookville, N.Y.); (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.); (Rockville Centre, N.Y.); New York Institute of Technology (Old Westbury, N.Y.); Queens College (Flushing, N.Y.); (Rochester, N.Y.) and St. Thomas Aquinas College (Sparkill, N.Y.). Associate Members include: (Garden City, N.Y.); (, Pa.); (Rutherford, N.J.), Franklin Pierce University (Rindge, N.H.), Georgian Court University (Lakewood, N.J.), (Philadelphia, Pa.), Kutztown University (Kutztown, Pa.), Lincoln Memorial University (Harrogate, Tenn.), and Wilmington University (New Castle, Del.).

The ECC sponsors the following championship sports: baseball; men’s and women’s basketball; womenʹs bowling; men’s and women’s cross country; men’s and women’s lacrosse; softball; men’s and women’s tennis; men’s and women’s indoor track and field; men’s and women’s outdoor track and field; men’s and women’s soccer; and women’s volleyball.

The East Coast Conference is a proud member of the NCAA and Division II. Division II is a dynamic and engaging group of colleges, institutions and conferences of varying sizes and educational missions. Division II members encourage and support diversity; value sportsmanship, fairness and equity; and place the highest priority on the overall educational excellence of the student‐athlete. ### ECCSports.org ###

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