Women’s Lacrosse Puts Three on IWLCA Academic Honor Roll, Earns Team Accolade as Well

IWLCA Academic Honor Roll
IWLCA Academic Honor Squads

RINDGE, N.H. (August 3, 2017) – Senior defender Colleen Leonardi (Granby, Conn.), junior attack Julia Miller (Westfield, Mass.) and junior defender Megan Schaeffer (Brookhaven, N.Y.) of the Franklin Pierce University women's lacrosse team have all been named to the IWLCA/Zag Sports Division II Academic Honor Roll, as announced last week by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association. In addition, as a team, the Ravens were honored as an IWLCA/Zag Sports Academic Honor Squad.

In order to be selected to the Academic Honor Roll, a student-athlete must be either a junior, senior or graduate student, and must possess a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or higher. Across Division II, 243 student-athletes earned the accolade, representing 67 institutions.

To be named as an Academic Honor Squad, a team must have put together a GPA of 3.0 or higher for the academic year. Across the three NCAA divisions and the NAIA, 314 women's lacrosse programs were honored for their work in the classroom in 2016-17.

Leonardi graduated in the spring with a 3.65 GPA as a health sciences major. She played in 15 of 16 games for the Ravens in her senior campaign, including nine starts. Along the way, Leonardi collected 10 ground balls and two draw controls, to go with six caused turnovers.

Through the end of her junior year, Miller owns a 3.52 GPA as a criminal justice major. She also played in 15 out of 16 games for the crimson and grey and earned three starts in the spring. Miller was the team's top scorer off the bench and finished fourth on the team overall in scoring, with 18 points on 18 goals. She attempted 42 shots, including 30 on goal, and went 4-for-6 on free-position shots. Miller added three ground balls and one draw control on the year.

For her part, Schaeffer finished her junior year with a 3.73 GPA as a health sciences major. She started in all 13 games she played in the spring, and was able to contribute at both ends of the field for the Ravens. Offensively, Schaeffer finished fifth on the team in scoring, with 16 points on 11 goals and five assists, which included 5-for-10 on free-position shots. Defensively, she tallied seven ground balls, 18 draw controls and three caused turnovers.

The Ravens (7-9) capped their 2017 season by qualifying for the NE10 Championship for the first time since 2009. It was the third postseason appearance in program history. In addition, the seven wins was one off the program record, established a year ago (8-8).

Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce women's lacrosse apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).