Vikings begin the Meredith Newman era; finish 19-2; win the inaugural CCIW regular season and tournament championships; reach the NCAA Division III Tournament round of 16 for the third straight year
 
The 2015 season marked the beginning of the Meredith Newman era for Augustana women's lacrosse. Newman was hired in August of 2014 to replace Sara Tisdale, who left after three seasons to become head coach at Central Michigan University. The Vikings didn't miss a beat, as Newman guided the team to a 19-2 record, the inaugural CCIW regular season and tournament championships and an appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament, where Augustana reached the round of 16 for the third consecutive year.
 
After going 16-1 in the regular season, including a perfect 6-0 in the first season of CCIW competition, the Vikings won both of their conference tournament games in dominating fashion at Thorson-Lucken Field. Augustana defeated Elmhurst 19-2 in the semifinals and Carthage 25-3 in the championship game.
 
With the CCIW not receiving an automatic bid, the Vikings were an at-large selection to the NCAA Division III Tournament field. After a first-round bye, they defeated Concordia (Wis.) 19-13 in a second round game at Thorson-Lucken. That earned them a trip to Cortland, New York to face SUNY Cortland. The Red Dragons ousted Augustana 21-2 in a "Sweet 16" contest and went on to capture the national championship. It was the second straight year that the Vikings were eliminated by the eventual champion.
 
Individual honors were many in 2015. Senior attacker Hilary Kargl (Sacred Heart Academy, Louisville, Ky.) was named a third team All-American by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association. Augustana had four IWLCA All-Great Lakes Region selections—Kargl, senior defender Bridget Conniff (Benet Academy, Downers Grove, Ill.) and junior midfielder Kaylee Nolan on the first team and sophomore attacker Anne Hopkins (Mother McAuley HS, Chicago, Ill.) on the second team. All four were also named to the All-CCIW first team, along with senior defender Nattali Shelton (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.) and junior attacker Emily Handrahan (Lake Zurich HS, Hawthorn Woods, Ill.). Senior defender Gina Filippo (Libertyville HS, Green Oaks, Ill.), senior attacker Kelly Stelzer (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.), junior goalie Jenna Hofmann (Columbine HHS, Littleton, Colo.) and junior midfielder Kendall Maduro (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) were second team All-CCIW selections. Nolan was honored as the conference's Defensive Player of the Year and Newman was the league's Coach of the Year.
 
With an average of 18.29 goals per game this season, Augustana led the nation in scoring. The Vikings also led Division III in scoring margin (11.76) and assists per game (11.76) and ranked seventh in scoring defense (6.52), fourth in winning percentage (.905) and third in draw controls (17.9 per game).
 
Individually, Kargl led the team in goals (76), assists (64) and points (140) this year. Her school-record point total led the nation and she ranked sixth in assists. She finished her career with 270 goals and 184 assists for 454 points, the third-most in NCAA Division III history. She ranks 11th all-time in Division III assists and 21st in goals.
 
Hopkins finished with 70 goals and 32 assists and ranked 10th in the nation with 102 points. Handrahan was second on the team and 10th nationally with 49 assists. Nolan was the team leader in draw controls (a school-record 159), ground balls (50) and caused turnovers (36). Her average of 7.57 draw controls per game ranked fifth in the nation.
 
This year's team included 10 seniors who were original members of the Augustana varsity program. Newman's senior captains were Conniff, Stelzer and attacker Kate Zisser (Kirkwood HS, St. Louis, Mo.). The rest of the senior class consisted of Kargl, Shelton, Filippo, defender-midfielder Emily Pavlik (Lyons HS, La Grange, Ill.), defender-midfielder Alex Palmisano (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.), defender Anna Kyllo (St. Croix Lutheran HS, Bloomington, Minn.) and defender Barbara Vega (Marian Catholic, Flossmoor, Ill.). That group helped the program compile a record of 70-10 (.875), capture three undefeated conference titles and make three NCAA Division III Tournament appearances in its first four years of intercollegiate competition.
 
2015 CCIW WOMEN'S LACROSSE STANDINGS

School	Conf	Overall
Augustana	6-0	19-2
Carthage	5-1	12-6
North Central	4-2	10-5
Elmhurst	2-4	9-9
Dubuque	2-4	9-7
Illinois Wesleyan	2-4	7-9
Carroll	0-6	0-14

 
CCIW Tournament
Wednesday, April 29
#2 Carthage 17, #3 North Central 7
#1 Augustana 19, #4 Elmhurst 2
 
Saturday, May 2
Augustana 25, Carthage 3
 
2015 AUGUSTANA SUPERLATIVES
IWLCA ALL-AMERICA: 3rd team – Hilary Kargl, A.
IWLCA ALL-GREAT LAKES REGION: 1st team – Hilary Kargl, A; Kaylee Nolan, M; Bridget Conniff, D; 2nd team – Anne Hopkins, A.
ALL-CCIW: 1st team -  Kaylee Nolan, M; Bridget Conniff, D; Nattali Shelton, D; Hilary Kargl, A; Emily Handrahan, A; Anne Hopkins, A; 2nd team - Kelly Stelzer, A; Gina Filippo, D; Kendall Maduro, M; Jenna Hofmann, G.
CCIW DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Kaylee Nolan
CCIW COACH OF THE YEAR: Meredith Newman
CCIW ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE: Nellie Bubb, Bridget Conniff, Shelby Cosman, Cori Duncan, Quinn Foley, Annalia Fowler, Jenna Hofmann, Anne Hopkins, Anna Kyllo, Kendall Maduro, Olivia Mayer, Emily Pavlik, Rebecca Pollard.
CCIW PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Kaylee Nolan (Offense) 3/9/15; Nellie Bubb (Defense) 3/9/15; Bridget Conniff (Defense) 3/16/15; Jenna Hofmann (Defense) 3/30/15 & 4/27/15; Hilary Kargl (Offense) 4/6/15; Kaylee Nolan (Defense) 4/6/15 & 4/20/15; Emily Handrahan (Offense) 4/27/15.
 
NCAA TEAM TOP 25 STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Scoring Offense – 18.29, 1st... Scoring Margin – 11.76, 1st... Assists – 11.76, 1st... Draw Controls – 17.90, 3rd... Win Percentage - .905, 4th... Scoring Defense – 6.52, 7th.
 
NCAA INDIVIDUAL TOP 50 STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Points – 140, Hilary Kargl, 1st; 102 – Anne Hopkins, 10th... Draw Controls – 7.57, Kaylee Nolan, 5th... Assists – 64, Hilary Kargl, 6th; 49, Emily Handrahan, 10th... Points per game – 6.67, Hilary Kargl, 6th; Assists per game – 3.05, Hilary Kargl, 9th; 2.33, Emily Handrahan, 28th... Goals – 76, Hilary Kargl, 10th; 70, Anne Hopkins, 22nd... Goals Against Average – 7.88, Jenna Hofmann, 21st.
 
CCIW TEAM STATISTICAL LEADERS: Goals per game – 20.83; Assists per game – 16.00... Points per game – 36.83... Draw Controls per game – 21.00... Shots per game – 38.50; Caused Turnovers – 11.67... Goals Against Average – 2.67... Shots on Goal per game – 32.50.
 
CCIW INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS LEADERS: Assists per game – 4.50, Hilary Kargl... Points per game – 7.67, Hilary Kargl... Draw Controls  per game – 12.00, Kaylee Nolan... Goals Against Average – 2.90, Jenna Hofmann... Save Percentage - .586, Jenna Hofmann.
 
SCHOOL RECORDS IN 2015:
Singe Game – Individual
Draw Controls: 21, Kaylee Nolan vs. Carroll, 4/18/15... Short-handed goals: 1, Emily Handrahan at Denison, 3/26/15; Kendall Maduro vs. Carthage, 5/2/15.
 
Single Game – Team
Points:  49 vs. Carroll, 4/18/15... Goals: 26 vs. Carroll, 4/18/15... Assists: 23 vs. Carroll, 4/18/15... Draw Controls: 28 vs. Carroll, 4/18/15... Short-handed goals: 1 at Denison, 3/26/15; vs. Carthage, 5/2/15.
 
Season – Individual
Points: 140, Hilary Kargl... Points per game: 6.67, Hilary Kargl... Ground balls: 50, Kaylee Nolan... Draw controls: 159, Kaylee Nolan... Draw controls per game: 7.57, Kaylee Nolan... Caused turnovers: 36, Kaylee Nolan... Caused turnovers per game: 1.71, Kaylee Nolan... Short-handed goals: 1, Emily Handrahan & Kendall Maduro... Game-winning goals: 8, Hilary Kargl... Goals Against Average: 7.88, Jenna Hofmann... Wins: 18, Jenna Hofmann.
 
Season – Team
Points: 631... Points per game: 30.05... Goals: 384... Assists: 247... Assists per game: 11.76... Shots: 753... Shots on goal: 598... Draw controls: 375... Draw controls per game: 17.86... Short-handed goals: 2... Goals Against Average: 6.78... Wins: 19.
 
Career – Individual
Points: 454, Hilary Kargl, 2012-15... Points per game: 5.68, Hilary Kargl, 2012-15... Goals: 270, Hilary Kargl, 2012-15... Goals per game: Hilary Kargl, 2012-15... Assists: 184, Hilary Kargl, 2012-15... Assists per game: 2.30, Hilary Kargl, 2012-15... Shots: 520, Hilary Kargl, 2012-15... Shots per game: 6.50, Hilary Kargl, 2012-15... Shot on goal: 411, Hilary Kargl, 2012-15... Shots on goal per game: 5.14, Hilary Kargl, 2012-15... Ground balls: 148, Emily Pavlik, 2012-15... Draw Controls: 339, Kaylee Nolan, 2013-15... Caused turnovers: 85, Kaylee Nolan, 2013-15; Emily Pavlik, 2012-15... Man-up goals: 5, Hilary Kargl, 2012-15... Short-handed goals: 1, Emily Handrahan, 2013-15; Kendall Maduro, 2013-15... Game-winning goals: 15, Hilary Kargl, 2012-15... Free position goals: 23, Emily Handrahan, 2013-15... Wins: 37, Jenna Hofmann, 2013-15... Games: 80, Hilary Kargl, 2012-15; Emily Pavlik, 2012-15.