Nine months after their loss in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Championship semifinals, the goal of the Hofstra University women’s lacrosse team is clear: get back and redeem themselves.
“It’s not going to be easy; it’s going to take a lot of hard work, getting to our point in the conference tournament, winning that game and getting to the conference championship,” said Hofstra head coach Shannon Smith. “I think getting there, having that experience and now learning from it and getting there this year is obviously the goal for our team.”
The Pride went 6-2 in CAA games last season, their most wins in conference play since 2015.
“Team-wise, I feel like we all want to pick up where we left off in CAA,” said redshirt sophomore Nikki Mennella. “We had a good run in the CAA last year and I feel like we want to finish it out this year.”
“Last year we started to learn what winning was and getting the taste of that and the excitement behind it, especially when we had our great run in CAA play,” Smith said. “I think from there it’s now taking ‘how do you continue that moving forward going into this season?”
Coach Smith, entering her 13th season, has continued to learn this year that there is no set recipe for success.
“Every day you learn something new, and every year you learn something new; you just want to grow as a person and grow as a coach,” Smith said. “I think right now, it’s just managing any curveball that’s thrown your way and staying calm and trying to figure out which way you want to hit it to make it work for your team.”
While every season is full of events that a team cannot control, something that they can control is their work ethic and preparation.
“I think for us, it’s just getting better every day, and setting that standard of everyday [improvement],” Smith said. “Really taking that time to find out who we are and what our identity is, working super hard … getting better every day at practice, getting better every day throughout the month of February so that we can really be prepared when we start playing conference mid-March.”
Setting that standard starts at the top of the roster with team captains. The Pride announced four captains for the 2025 season: Mennella, sophomore defender Christine Dannenfelser, junior goalkeeper Luchianna Cardello, and senior defender Brynn Hepting.
“I think the most exciting part of being named a captain is that you’re also voted on and talked about by your peers,” Smith said. “I think that’s huge. Your teammates and your peers see you with the leadership, and us as coaches see you with that leadership.”
This is Hepting’s second year being named a captain, and that honor is just a reminder of a bigger picture.
“I think one of the biggest things that I’ve learned from being a captain last year is how important it is to lead by example,” Hepting said. “Having people pick the three other captains we have this year, and me again, it’s a reminder that people are watching you and to be the best version of yourself for them.”
Hepting’s impact doesn’t always appear in the box score.
“We’ve played a lot of different defenses with a lot of different people over the years, so things have changed but I think one of the biggest things, at least, is confidence,” Hepting said. “Having my teammates look up to me helps build my confidence as well and being able to speak to the team and speak on the field to the rest of the defense helps, I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve improved upon.”
Mennella finished fourth on the team with 42 points on 30 goals and 12 assists. The Pride lost their top three scorers from last season including Mennella’s sister, but that gives Mennella the opportunity to make more of a mark on the team, both on and off the field.
“[Mennella], with her experience on the offensive side of the field, being in it, she’s a very excitable and emotional player and shows her emotions out there with the excitement of the game,” Smith said. “It allows our team to build off of that.”
“I’m really excited with my experience on the offense and there’s a lot of newcomers and freshmen,” Mennella said. “I’m excited to step up into that role because last year we had really good leaders on offense.”
Cardello spent her freshman year fighting for the starting goalkeeper position. After winning the full-time starting job in 2024, she proved to be an anchor for the Hofstra defense moving forward.
“[Cardello], being a leader in the cage, I really believe the defense loves playing for her and loves playing in front of her,” Smith said.
Dannenfelser was everywhere on the field in 2024, leading the Pride in both groundballs and caused turnovers. Her high motor makes her a presence on the field that opponents must respect. Along with Hepting, the pair make for a lockdown duo that headlines the Hofstra defense.
“I think [Dannenfelser] is a really fiery player, and [Hepting] brings the overall calm, cool and collected experience and also brings that calmness to the team and also the captains,” Smith said. “All of them together is a really great mix, [I’m] really excited to have them lead the team this year.”
With more than 10 players departing from last season’s roster, there comes several opportunities for returning players and new additions to carve out their spot in the starting lineup and rotation.
Sophomore Kristen Redding recorded 31 points on 19 goals and 12 assists. She had the fifth best mark on the Pride last season, earning the chance to cement herself as a major piece of the offense in 2025. Megan Flannery started five games for the Pride in 2024, but Smith expects that number will be much higher this season.
Senior defender Emily Weigand only appeared in six games for Hofstra last season but has separated herself from the pack as someone who will get playing time.
“I think [Weigand] is going to do really well for us on the defensive side of the field,” Smith said. “She’s been the most consistent I’ve ever seen her here in our first week of preseason, something I’m really pumped about. She’s really challenging all the players on our team to get better, especially the attackers. She’s a tremendous defender, so I think that really helps.”
Finally, there’s Madeleine Rudolph, who finished fourth on the team with 16 draw controls. With the three players that finished ahead of her gone from the roster, Rudolph will be Hofstra’s go-to player in the draw circle. This is a role the rest of the team is certain she’ll thrive in.
“[Rudolph] has great height with draw controls and offense, and I think that’s really exciting to see her grow into her role so I’m excited to see that,” Hepting said.
With 10 freshmen and a pair of graduate transfers joining the team, the Pride will have plenty of new faces to help fill out the rest of the roster.
Angelina Sparacio and Niki Mormile make up the transfers joining the Pride in 2025. Sparacio played three seasons for Quinnipiac University, scoring 25 goals and seven assists for the Bobcats last season. Mormile is coming off three straight Division III National Championships with Middlebury College. She stuffed the stat sheet with 12 goals, six assists, 49 draw controls, 24 ground balls and 18 caused turnovers in 2024.
“I think [the freshmen] have learned a lot from the fall until now,” Smith said. “I think all their experiences they had in the fall and all the work they’ve put in over the winter you can definitely see in our practices, so I’m excited to watch them come together and figure it out … we’ll see how all the pieces fall together but I think we’re going to see a lot [of] them stepping up into big roles for us this year.”
With so much turnover on the roster, the Pride will rely on their out-of-conference matchups in February and March to give the team time to mix and match and to build the chemistry and cohesion that helped get them to the CAA Championships last season.
“I think the more we play and the more experience we get quicker, the better off we’re going to be moving forward,” Smith said.
“These games and these practices, as long as we’re literally getting better every single day, we will be good and we will catch up to where we were last year,” Hepting said. “I think it’s just getting better than our opponents, too. So, if we’re getting better than one of our opponents every single day, we will see success with that.”
The Pride will start their CAA campaign when they host the University of Delaware on March 14. Although the road to a conference title will almost certainly run through back-to-back CAA champions Stony Brook University, the Pride believe they first have unfinished business with another conference powerhouse, Drexel University.
“Last year, our first game we played [Drexel], we lost by one, so I feel like we have a really good chance,” Mennella said.
The Pride lost to the Dragons 11-10 in the final game of the regular season and dropped the rematch in the tournament just five days later, ending their season. The two teams will meet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 13, with a chance at redemption.
“In my experience, we’ve gotten pretty close, and lost every time, but I think that this year it will be different, and we have a really great shot at it,” Hepting said.
While the players may have the Drexel game circled on their calendars, Smith understands that the road to where they want to finish the season starts elsewhere.
“I think for me, personally, it is exciting,” Smith said about their first game of the season. “As a coach, you’re always just waiting for that first game.”
The Pride opens their season against Long Island University at the James M. Shuart Stadium on Friday, Feb. 7. First draw is set for noon.
