Northborough, Mass. – Eight members of the Le Moyne College women's lacrosse team were named to the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division I Academic Honor Roll, as announced by the association on Wednesday afternoon.
 
The Dolphins were represented on the list by graduate student Francesca Tortora (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse/Stony Brook), seniors Jane Austenfeld (Lisle, N.Y./Whitney Point), Theresa Grosso (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt), Bella Sampo (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) and Alexa Strelick (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) and juniors Julia Blakeslee (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca), Steph Malota (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick) and Emily Noel (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius). Austenfeld, Grosso, Sampo and Strelick each earned Academic Honor Roll recognition for the second straight year, while Tortora and the three juniors earned the honor in their first year of eligibility.
 
The Academic Honor Roll was comprised of 1209 student-athletes from 122 institutions. All student-athletes were nominated by their schools and have achieved at least junior status academically and have a cumulative academic GPA of 3.50 or greater.
 
Additionally, the team as a whole earned IWLCA Academic Honor Squad recognition for carrying a GPA above 3.2 for the academic year. The Dolphins are one of 115 Division I programs to earn the distinction.

Austenfeld, an environmental science and risk management and insurance dual major, was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Year and the NEC Women's Lacrosse Scholar Athlete of the Year. She anchored a defense that allowed just 8.31 goals per game, the top mark in the NEC and the 14th-best nationally. A starter in all 18 games, she tied for the team lead amongst defenders with a career-best 16 caused turnovers and ranked third on the team with a career-best 25 ground balls. She caused multiple turnovers in five games and scooped up multiple ground balls in six games, including three in a pair of contests. She also earned a spot on the CSC Academic All-District® At-Large Team.

Blakeslee, a biology and psychology dual major, earned NEC All-Conference Second Team honors after registering a career-high 148 draw controls, a career-best 18 goals and one assist for 19 points to go with a career-high 24 ground balls as a starter in all 18 games. She led the NEC in total draw controls and ranked second in draw controls per game (8.22). Her 8.22 draw controls per game are the most in the program's history by over 1.3 and she ranks third in the program's history in total draw controls in a season. She ranked 19th nationally in draw controls per game and total draw controls. She had six games with double-digit draw controls, including a career-high 14 draw controls against Mercyhurst and then FDU in the NEC semifinals, which is tied for the second-most by a Dolphin in the program's history and the most in a Division I game. She had multiple goals in three games, including a career high-tying four at Howard. She had eight games with at least two ground balls, including a career-best four at Manhattan. She also earned a spot on the CSC Academic All-District® At-Large Team.

Grosso, a psychology and business dual major, missed the season following an injury in the Fall.

Malota, a marketing and management & leadership dual major, posted career highs of 23 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers as a starter in all 17 of 18 games played. She caused a career-high three turnovers in the regular season win over FDU and scooped up multiple ground balls in seven games, including three in a pair of contests.
 
Noel, a marketing and analytics dual major, registered 14 points on a career-best nine goals and five assists as a starter in five of 15 games played, while adding a career-high eight ground balls. She tied her career high with five points in the win at Central Connecticut State on a career-best four goals and one assist.

Sampo, a psychology major, recorded 24 points on 13 goals and 11 assists as a starter in two of 18 games, while adding 11 ground balls. She registered multiple points in seven games, including a pair of games with four points, including the NEC semifinal win over FDU. She found the back of the net multiple times in three contests and also dished out multiple assists in three games.
 
Strelick, a biology and chemistry dual major, tallied career-bests of 26 points and 19 goals to go with seven assists as a starter in 15 of 17 games, while adding a career-high 13 ground balls and a career-best eight draw controls. She had 10 games with multiple points and seven games with at least two goals. She also earned a spot on the CSC Academic All-District® At-Large Team.

Tortora, who is in the clinical mental health program, earned NEC All-Conference First Team honors in her first year with the Dolphins. She led the Dolphins in scoring with a career-high 69 points on 41 goals and a team-best 28 assists as a starter in 17 of 18 games, while adding a career-best 18 ground balls and a career-high 13 caused turnovers. The NEC Player of the Week four of the last seven weeks of the regular season, her 69 points are the fourth-most in a season in the program's Division I tenures (1999-2010, 2024-26), while her 41 goals are the eighth-most and her 28 assists are tied for the third-most. She is the fourth player in Le Moyne's Division I eras with at least 40 goals and at least 25 assists in a season. After being held scoreless in the season opener, she had a point in each of the last 17 games. She recorded multiple points in 16 games, including each of the last eight games with at least four points. She found the back of the net multiple times in 12 contests, including a career-high four goals in four games, and dished out multiple assists in eight games, including a career-best four in a pair of games. She had five games with multiple ground balls and four contests with at least two caused turnovers.
 
The Dolphins finished their third season back at the Division I level with a 14-4 overall record and advanced to the NEC Championship game for the first time. The Dolphins went 8-1 in NEC action to earn a share of the NEC Regular Season title and the top seed in the NEC Championship.