COLONIA, N.J. (Jan. 28, 2025) – Mercy University women's lacrosse senior Lindsey Shimborske (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) has been named the East Coast Conference (ECC) Women's Lacrosse Preseason Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year and the team has been picked to finish second in the ECC Preseason Coaches' Poll, as announced by the conference office earlier today.

Roberts Wesleyan received all seven first place votes to top the poll. Roberts Wesleyan's Emma Blumenstock was tabbed the conference's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year.

The reigning back-to-back ECC Defensive Player of the Year, Shimborske enters her final season with the Mavericks this spring. The Mercy senior led the ECC in caused turnovers (41) and ranked second in ground balls (48) and draw controls (114) last season, all of which ranked in the top 25 nationally.

In regular season conference action, Shimborske tallied high draw control numbers in wins over St. Thomas Aquinas (10), District of Columbia (9), and D'Youville (8) and went off for four ground balls, two caused turnovers, and eight draw controls in Mercy's regular-season finale victory over Daemen. Additional notable non-conference performances included two points, six ground balls, and two caused turnovers against Assumption, five ground balls and two caused turnovers against East Stroudsburg, four ground balls and two caused turnovers against Saint Anselm, and two points against Pace.

In the ECC postseason, Shimborske totaled 10 ground balls, four caused turnovers, and 13 draw controls to pace Mercy back to its seventh consecutive ECC Championship Final.

Mercy went 9-10 overall and 5-1 in ECC play last season. The Mavericks ended the 2024 season receiving votes nationally in the final IWLCA Top 25 Poll and have appeared in each of the last seven ECC Championship Finals, winning three during that span (2019, 2022, 2023). Head Coach Dawn Sachs and the Mavericks return four All-ECC selections from a year ago, highlighted by Shimborske and senior Leah Hansen who were both IWLCA All-Region selections last season. Shimborske was also named IWLCA First Team All-American. Juniors Andrea Mott and Emily Marino also return after being named Second Team All-ECC last season.

The Mavericks open their 2025 season on Wednesday, February 19th when they host Georgian Court at 3 p.m.