GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The senior class is already poised to go down as one of the greatest in program history with two national championships and two Centennial Conference titles in tow, but the group has no intention of resting on past laurels as they look to lead Gettysburg College in pursuit of more success in 2020.
 
Gettysburg won back-to-back NCAA Division III championships in 2017 and 2018 and claimed the conference crown in 2018. The team defended its league trophy last spring, but the Bullets were unable to pull off a three-peat nationally, falling to Wesleyan (Conn.) University in the regional finals at Clark Field last May.
 
This spring, 32 women led by eight experienced and passionate seniors don the orange and blue for Head Coach Carol Cantele's 28th year at Gettysburg.
 
"We're super excited about the 2020 campaign," said Cantele, who is 418-109 at Gettysburg and 442-132 in 31 seasons overall as a head coach. "We've been so fortunate to enjoy incredible weather and that brings so much more energy and readiness. The team looks super fit and they've been really committed to learning and absorbing everything."
 
The senior class of Liza Barr (Medford, N.J./Shawnee), Daphne Budd (Darien, Conn./Darien), Casey Cole (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood), Abbie Lee (Hingham, Mass./Hingham), Claire Macatee (Bel Air, Md./North Harford), Maria Nemeth (Westfield, N.J./Westfield), Ella Orzechowski (Elkridge, Md./Howard), and Courtney Patterson (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Hunterdon Central) have logged an overall record of 61-7 over the last three seasons, including 24-3 in conference play. Barr, Budd, Macatee, and Patterson are serving as team captains this spring.  
 
"The senior leaders, while they've had great success, they don't rest on that," stated Cantele. "They realize every year, it's someone else's opportunity. It's a clean slate and they need to embrace every game with that in mind. We don't rest on our past laurels. While they help fuel us and there is a tradition of success that might give us a little bit of an advantage, as soon as that whistle blows nobody cares. That's the mindset we need to have moving forward."
 
"My senior class is fortunate to have won two national championships under great senior leadership," said Barr. "We've really learned a lot from those senior classes that led us all the way. We had great role models to look up to."
 
Barr is at the forefront of one of the nation's top offenses which returns each of its top four point scorers from a year ago. She was named All-America First Team and CC Attacker of the Year after posting 127 points, including a conference and program record and nation-leading 75 assists. She set the Gettysburg and Centennial marks for points (15) and assists (13) against Westminster (Pa.) College in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.
 
Just behind Barr was junior Kerry McKeever (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville) who finished with a team-leading 64 goals along with 26 points on the way to third-team national accolades. Junior Bri Stokes (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) had a breakout season with 50 goals, while Patterson dialed up career highs for points (50), goals (39), and assists (11).
 
"I'm really excited for the attack this year," said Barr, who enters her senior season with 215 career points. "Even though we lost some key attackers, we have a lot of people that got a lot of playing time last year. We're used to playing with each other and we have great chemistry."
 
Orzechowski and Nemeth both produced their best offensive campaigns in 2019. Orzechowski racked up 24 goals and 15 assists, while Nemeth tallied 19 goals. Junior Maddy Ruffini (Media, Pa./Strath Haven) and sophomore Maddi Seibel (Newtown, Pa./Pennington School) could be in line for increased roles after seeing time in the majority of contests a year ago.
 
Patterson and Orzechowski will contribute on both ends of the field as midfielders. The former was named the NCAA Division III Midfielder of the Year by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) and she has been labeled as the D3 Preseason Player of the Year by Lacrosse Magazine heading into 2020. Last season, Patterson became just the third player in program history to corral 100 draw controls.
 
Gettysburg lost a key member of the "draw squad" in 2018 IWLCA Division III Player of the Year and two-time NCAA Championship MVP Steph Colson '19, but Patterson, McKeever, and Macatee should have no problem maintaining the team's prowess inside the circle. The trio combined for 234 draw controls in 2019.
 
"I really take pride in winning the draws and giving that advantage to my team to score and getting other people to score," said Patterson. "Even if I'm not making the goals, if I get the draw it feels good because I'm helping in a way."
 
Back on the defensive side of the field are Budd and Macatee. Budd posted 27 ground balls and 18 caused turnovers while starting every game a year ago. Macatee started all but one game due to injury and came up with 34 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers.
 
Patterson and Orzechowski will contribute on the defensive side, while additional players vying for time include juniors Gabby Dunning (Oreland, Pa./Springside Chestnut Hill Academy), Sara Howard (Skillman, N.J./Montgomery), and Alex Jarvis (West Hartford, conn./Choate Rosemary Hall) and sophomore Nora Janzer (Havertown, Pa./Haverford), all of whom saw time in at least 11 games last spring. Gettysburg finished 13th in the country with a goals against average of 6.90 in 2019.
 
The biggest question mark for the Bullets heading into 2020 will be between the pipes. Lee and Cole both served in reserve roles in their first three seasons behind all-conference goalies Shannon Keeler '17 and Bailey Pilder '19. Lee has played in 16 games and has logged a 3.12 GAA and .667 save percentage in 269 minutes, while Cole has posted a 4.09 GAA and .635 save percentage over 396 minutes and 22 games. Newcomer Shannon Twill (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills) will challenge the two upperclassmen for the starting job.
 
Gettysburg has plenty of motivation heading into 2020. The team was picked No. 2 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division III Poll and No. 4 in the IWLCA Division III Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Bullets also earned top billing in the Centennial Conference preseason ballot, edging out Franklin & Marshall College.
 
The Orange and Blue face a challenging schedule with seven opponents ranked among the top 20, including No. 22 Denison University (Feb. 29), No. 8 Washington and Lee (March 8), No. 3 Salisbury (March 11), No. 2 Tufts (March 14), No. 6 York (March 18), No. 13 TCNJ (March 24), and No. 7 Franklin & Marshall (April 1).
 
The fingers of the seniors are often adorned with one of the national championship rings from 2017 or 2018, but for each member of the class, the most distinctive memory on the lacrosse field is losing to Wesleyan in last year's quarterfinals. It's just another motivating factor for a team pursuing a lofty and realistic goal.
 
"In a way losing last year, might help us this year because we want to get back where we started," said Patterson. "We only have one more year to finish it off, so why not put everything we have into every practice and try to be the best that we can because in reality this is our last run. I think collectively every day at practices everyone is excited to be there and everyone wants to get better. It's really exciting and amazing to be a part of that."
 
Gettysburg opens the season at Messiah College on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 4 p.m. The Bullets first home game is against Stevenson University on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m.