Women's Lacrosse | 2/23/2017 12:17:00 PM

FREDONIA, N.Y. -- Fredonia women's lacrosse receives the distinction of being the first Blue Devil spring team in action when it opens its season Saturday against Denison at Granville, Ohio.The swing through Ohio also includes a stop in Alliance for a Sunday afternoon meeting with the Mount Union Purple Raiders.

Head coach Amy Simon brings the Blue Devils into the new season off a 7-10 mark in 2016. Nine players return, including seven starters. Here's a breakdown heading into the 2017 season:

GOALKEEPERS -- For the last two seasons, it's been all Nicole Burrows (Baldwinsville, N.Y.). She enters her junior season with two-year record of 24-14, including a stellar freshman campaign as part of Fredonia's run to the NCAA D3 quarterfinal round. While her goals-against average increased by just over one goal per game in 2016, her save percentage improved -- from 46.1 percent in 2015 to 47.4 percent last year. Her next career save with be No. 300. Only two other Fredonia keepers have had more. Burrows will have back-up this season in freshman Lauren Spencer (Hamburg, N.Y.), 

DEFENDERS -- Three players return, yet just one starter: senior Joelle Kadi (Hamburg, N.Y.). Kadi collected 11 ground balls in 14 games last season, her first at Fredonia after transferring here from Erie Community College. Kirsten Green (Ashville, N.Y.) a senior who took up the sport last spring, appeared in just three games and Olivia Miller (Springwater, N.Y.), a sophomore, in just one last season. So it stands to reason there will be playing time available for one or more of the newcomers, all freshmen: Paige Bauch (Spencerport, N.Y.), Kaycie Malyk (Rochester, N.Y.), and Joshua Hosein-Brzoza (Farmingdale, N.Y.).

MIDFIELDERS -- Audrey Yokopovich (Webster, N.Y.) is one of two returning all-conference players on this year's team. A junior, Yokopovich made 2016 SUNYAC Third Team after leading the Blue Devils in points with 46 (tied), assists with 15, game-winning goals with 4, draw controls with 53, and caused turnovers with 31. She also grabbed 42 ground balls, second on the team. Like Burrows, Yokopovich has started since the first game of her freshman year and has appeared in all 48 games since then. Her two year total of 62 goals ties her for 20th on the Fredonia career list while her 80 career points is just short of cracking that Top 20. Rejoining her in the midfield is sophomore Samantha Spiess (Fairport, N.Y.), who put up solid freshmen -- 15 goals, 20 points, 22 draws. Another sophomore, Jade Williams (Tully, N.Y.), started most of last season as an attacker, where she chipped in with 20 goals, yet she likely will see time in the midfield this spring. Karly Torppey (Niagara Falls, N.Y.), another sophomore and two-year women's soccer veteran, and freshmen Laurel Becker (Greenwich, N.Y.) and Madeline Haney (Macedon, N.Y.) will see their playing time increase as they learn to adjust to playing both ends of the field.

ATTACKERS -- Katie Miller (Hamburg, N.Y.) is the other all-conference returnee. Entering her senior season, Miller had 32 goals last season -- doubling her total from the previous season -- and accumulated 40 points and 28 draw controls, totals that put her among team leaders. An accurate shooter, Miller has connected on 45.3 percent of her total shots in her two seasons in a Blue Devil uniform. Joining her is the seventh returning starter, sophomore Monica Van Donsel (Cortland, N.Y.), who authored nine goals in 17 games as a freshmen. Haney and sophomore Tara Keohane (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and Jen Kershner (Liverpool, N.Y.) are the newcomers.

KEY LOSSES: Three players graduated, including defender Jessica Tuttle, who remains with the program as an assistant coach. Also not back is one all-conference player who chose not to return.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE -- The schedule is ambitious. Starting with both teams this weekend, the Blue Devils play eight 2016 NCAA Tournament teams. Franklin & Marshall and perennial SUNYAC champ Cortland advanced to last year's semifinal round. Gettysburg made it to the quarterfinals. Denison won the North Coast Athletic Conference four years running while Mount Union is seeking its fourth straight Ohio Athletic Conference flag. Roger Williams is picked to win the Commonwealth Coast Conference title. St. John Fisher and Brockport were 2016 NCAA teams and are nationally ranked in this year's pre-season polls. In fact, the Blue Devils play four of the top six and five of the top nine in the IWLCA rankings.

SIMON SAYS: The third-coach and former Blue Devil standout could face another transition year, the second straight in the wake of the 2014's record-setting campaign: 17-4 overall, a SUNYAC semifinal win, and two NCAA Tournament wins. "We're very young this year," she said, "with only five upperclassmen, but the new players are adjusting rather well and the younger girls from last year have brought their game to the next level. With their skill improvement and the experience they have playing at the college level, it should bring a new look for us this year. We have a lot more versatility this year ... it allows me to shift players around and make adjustments without throwing us off balance."