WASHINGTON, D.C. — After a comprehensive victory over Susquehanna in Thursday's Landmark Conference Semifinal, the Catholic University women's lacrosse team prepares for its record 16th-straight appearance in the conference's championship game on Saturday. Below we preview what promises to be a heated battle.  

Setting the Stage

Catholic will take on No. 24 Scranton at 1 p.m. on Weiss Field for the right to hoist the Landmark Conference trophy and for a berth into the NCAA Tournament. It's a mammoth match-up as the two teams have met in the last eight conference title games, with Scranton finally defeating the Cardinals for the first time in their program's history last season.

Returners from last year's team will be looking for revenge but even newcomers have some added motivation as Scranton handed Catholic its only in-conference loss this season when the Royals triumphed 12-8 on Carlini Field on the first weekend of April. That stumble was Catholic's last loss as the Cardinals enter the championship game on a brilliant run of form, having won seven games in a row and outscoring opponents 132-32 during that streak.

Defensive Prowess

After losing virtually half of its attacking output from last season, Catholic's foundation this season has been anchored in its defense. While the attack has taken shape and impressed recently, defensive-minded returners have allowed the Cardinals to excel on that side of the ball. Catholic has not allowed more than nine goals to any opponent during its seven-game winning run, and the Cardinals set the record for fewest goals ever conceded in a Landmark Conference Tournament game on Thursday (1).

Having just earned her second-consecutive Landmark Conference Defensive Player of the Year honor, Rachel Rubenstein has had a career year. With three caused turnovers against Susquehanna in the semifinal, she broke the program's single-season record for most caused turnovers in a single season with 48. She has also scooped up the most ground balls in any season of her career with a team-most 66, pushing her career total to 183. Rubenstein now sits third all-time in career caused turnovers, two behind second, and fifth all-time in total ground balls.

Fresh off of her second-career all-conference selection, Lauren Bendo is another key piece of the defensive puzzle for Catholic. The junior complements Rubenstein well, sitting second behind her in both caused turnovers (19) and ground balls (37) while also having an impact at the draw with 30 successful draw controls on the year. Senior Lauren Davidson has provided a steady presence in cage for Catholic, having played every minute of the season between the sticks.

Freshman Caroline Gaines has been a welcomed addition and key contributor on defense as well. The Baltimore, Md., native has produced 15 caused turnovers, scooped up 20 ground balls and won 21 draw controls while Clare Martin has started all 18 games, producing 16 caused turnovers and 14 ground balls. Olivia Franco has done well to battle through an early-season injury and will be key to help pick up the slack as Grace Button has now come down with injury that has kept her out of a handful of recent contests.

Grit in the Midfield

Catholic's midfield will have to be on top of its game if it plans to hoist the trophy on Saturday. The midfield unit is led by Jessie Lee and Riley Martin, both of whom oftentimes fly under the radar but have recently received some well-deserved recognition with their first-career all-conference nods.

Lee leads the team in draw controls with 55 and has set single-season career highs in goals, assists, ground balls and draw controls this year. Martin follows right behind Lee with 47 draw controls and has also had a career campaign. After not scoring more than four goals in any of her three prior seasons, the senior has netted 16 goals, provided five assists, scooped up 16 ground balls and caused eight turnovers.

Freshman Ariana Bransfield has come on strong as of late, providing a great third option for head coach Meghan McDonogh in the midfield. She sits fourth on the team with 27 draw controls and has provided eight goals in attack in a successful first season in Cardinal colors.

On Attack

Lindsay Sawyer entered the season as the top returning attacker from previous campaign with an output of 17 goals and five assists in 2023 while Mattea Del Peschio was also expected to take a significant jump this year. Aside from that, it was a bit of a question mark where the attacking firepower would come from in 2024. The Cardinals have fostered a diverse attack this season, with many returners stepping into the bigger roles while multiple newcomers have strengthened the Cardinal goal-scoring.

Del Peschio leads the team in total points with 46, split pretty evenly with 25 goals and a team-most 21 helpers. Mia Perkell leads the team with 35 goals, surpassing the 21-goal mark that she provided while playing at Rochester during her freshman campaign and taking a significant jump from last year.

Izzy Fiore (31G), Maggie Traynor (23G) and Sawyer (22G) have all scored more than 20 goals while an impressive 11 players have found the back of the net 10 or more times this season. Freshman Charlotte Spaulding has been on fire as of late, scoring six times in the regular-season finale against Lycoming before netting five more in the semifinal win over Susquehanna.

Getting to Know the Opponents

Top-seeded Scranton enters the championship game on the back of a 14-7 win over Juniata in the other semifinal. The Royals were tested by the Eagles in the first half but pulled away during the third quarter to secure the right to defend last season's title. They possessed an identical conference record as Catholic after dropping a regular season contest to Susquehanna in overtime but earned the No. 1 seed by virtue of their head-to-head win over the Cardinals.

Grace Lane will lead Scranton attack after an impressive junior campaign. The all-conference first-teamer has scored 54 times this season while providing nine assists while second-teamer Erin Reich will also be a factor with her 40 goals and 12 assists. Both scored twice in Scranton's 12-8 regular-season win over Catholic.

The midfield is where Scranton finds a significant advantage in most of its contests. The Royals boast a trio of all-conference selections in the midfield in the form of Eileen Hewitt, Devyn Tanajewski and Jillian Lopez. 

Hewitt was tabbed Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year after a stellar freshman campaign that saw her lead her team in draw controls with 74. Lopez torched Catholic to the tune of four goals, three draw controls and one ground ball in the regular-season match-up, one of the best games of her 24-goal campaign. Tanajewski is the leading assist women for Scranton with 23 helpers and has also won 57 draw controls on the year, with six of those coming against Catholic in the previous meeting. The draw will be a huge swing point in this championship affair on Saturday.

Defensive is the name of the game for Scranton as the Royals allowed just 146 goals this season, the least in the conference, 23 better than Catholic. First-team all-conference selection Grace Dabulas leads the defense with 27 caused turnovers and 27 ground balls while other contributors like Karina Roettger (22 CT, 30 GB) and Nicolina Mauro (17 CT, 41 GB) make the defense a pretty balanced unit. Goalkeeper Lauren Boldis has made 105 saves this season en route to a selection to the conference's second team.

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