2020 Senior Day Celebration: Lacrosse

Today we are recognizing the senior class of the 2020 University of Rochester women’s lacrosse team with a special senior day celebration honoring the team and individual accomplishments both on and off the field over the last four years.

This group of seven seniors helped the Yellowjackets accumulate over 20 wins in a little over three seasons, earning a Liberty League Tournament berth in their rookie campaigns in 2017.

As first-years, this group aided Rochester in finishing 9-6 overall record and ended 5-4 in the conference.  The Yellowjackets picked up a huge 7-6 win on the road at Union to close the regular season, ultimately clinching the playoff berth, Rochester’s third in conference tournament history.  UR was solid all year on both sides of the ball, finishing 21st in Division III in scoring defense and 18th in fewest turnovers committed per game.

The next year, UR embarked on a four-game winning streak during the middle of the season to thrust the team into playoff contention.  The streak included wins over RIT and Union.  Rochester again was ranked inside the top-100 in the country in scoring defense.

In 2019, Rochester posted another solid season, with the highlight coming in the form of a thrilling overtime road win at Rensselaer in the early portion of the season.

2020 showed promise for the ‘Jackets, with Rochester ending 2-1 with wins over Thiel and Nazareth and a tight loss to nationally ranked SUNY Geneseo.  In the Thiel victory, Rochester set a team record for points in a game (39), was one goal shy of a single-game school record and smashed the UR record with 17 assists on the 22 goals.  The abbreviated season saw UR 8th in Division III in shooting percentage and 23rd in scoring defense.

Off the field these seven have epitomized what it means to be a student-athlete.  They have helped Rochester earn a spot on the IWLCA Team Academic Honor Squad for three years and individually posted four individual IWLCA Academic honors.  Additionally, the group has combined for 19 Liberty League All-Academic honors, with each of the seven individuals achieving the honor in 2020 for cumulative GPA’s above 3.30.

Let’s meet the UR lacrosse class of 2020:

#15 Kaileigh Davis
Position: Midfield
Hometown: Newbury, NH
Major: Microbiology

Davis has been a consistent performer for Rochester all throughout her four years.  She has appeared in 41 total games and accumulated 20 points, coming on 14 gals and six assists.  Her career shooting percentage is .400 and she has one game-winning goal. Additionally, she has 17 ground balls, 5 caused turnovers and 3 draw controls.  Her 2020 campaign was off to a great start with six goals and two assists in three games, including a career-best six points (4 G, 2 A) against Thiel to open the season.

She has been accepted into Flight School and will be heading down to Pensacola, Florida next year, working towards becoming a Naval Aviator.  Davis is also a 3-year member of the Liberty League All-Academic team.

“I am so proud of Kaileigh,” says UR head coach Sue Behme.  “She has managed ROTC and lacrosse with a tremendous amount of grit. That includes playing at an extremely high level this season.  Over her lacrosse career she has always made the little plays which created positive momentum for our team, helping us be successful.”

#38 Deirdre Kelly
Position: Goalie
Hometown: Fairport, NY
Major: Brain & Cognitive Sciences and Psychology

Over her four years, Kelly has made 17 appearances between the pipes for the Yellowjackets. She carries an 11.14 goals against average, has made a total of 22 saves and a .319 save percentage.  Her work has helped contribute to UR’s high national ranking in scoring defense during her time on the River Campus, including a school record 7.07 GAA in 2017.  As a first-year, Kelly started and made a career-high six saves at William Smith in the Liberty League playoffs.

Coach Behme on Kelly: “Goalkeepers like Deirdre are special.  Dre always has seen the big picture and did what was best for the team as a leader.  She welcomed and supported three younger goalkeepers and has taught them what it means to be a goalie in our program.”

Next year’s plans for Deirdre are up in the air at the current time, but she is planning on going back to school to become a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner.  She will earn Liberty League All-Academic honors for the first time this semester and was one of UR’s team captains in 2020.

#24 Marina Kern
Position: Attack
Hometown: Chappaqua, NY
Major: Cell & Developmental Biology

Kern was a versatile performer for Rochester during her four seasons, playing midfield and attack.Over her career, she recorded 40 points, including 29 goals and 11 assists.  As a junior, she achieved career highs in nearly every statistical category, including goals, assists, shots and ground balls.  Through three games this season though, Kern notched seven points, with a career-high five points coming against Thiel in the season opening win.

Academically, she is a 3-time Liberty League All-Academic performer and was bestowed with the IWLCA’s Academic Honor Roll award last season.  She plans on completing two years of clinical research following graduation and hopes to attend medical school afterwards.

Her coach says, “Marina’s love for lacrosse never goes unnoticed.  She was always willing to move from the midfield position during her career to an attacking position when we needed to make an adjustment.  She was one of the strongest shooters and cutters on the team.”

#1 Jenna Macri
Position: Defense
Hometown: Ashbury, NJ
Majors: Psychology and Brain & Cognitive Sciences

Macri has played in 48 games over the last three years, starting every game as a junior and senior.She has 14 goals on 34 shots in her career, including two game-winners.  She led UR with 16 caused turnovers and finished with 31 in her career, also scooping up 46 ground balls and collected six draw controls.

In the classroom she has excelled as well, double-majoring in Psychology and Brain & Cognitive Sciences.  She was selected to the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll in 2019 and has earned Liberty League All-Academic recognition for three straight years.  Jenna will be continuing research at UR next year before applying to Clinical Psychology PhD programs.

“Jenna has been one of the most fun players for me to watch,” said Behme.  “She played in the midfield for the majority of her career and this year accepted her role as a defender for the good of the team. She always found a way to get the ball upfield even when I thought she may be getting herself in a jam. Many times this would lead to her finding herself in a position to make a big play when no one expected it."

#19 Maggie McKenna
Position: Midfield
Hometown: Rochester, NY
Majors: Financial Economics and Mathematics

Our next senior has been one of the top scorers on the team the last couple of seasons and has been impactful during all four years in.  She has a total of 58 goals and 11 assists for 69 points over her career and tallied 41 ground balls, 38 draw controls and 17 draw controls.  McKenna was a starter from day one at Rochester, starting all but one of her 48 career games donning the blue and yellow.  She notched a career-high four goals on two occasions, coming in wins over Nazareth and RIT.

McKenna is a two-time team captain at Rochester and is planning to conduct research in economics with the hopes of pursuing a PhD in a few years.  She was named Liberty League All-Academic for three years and was selected to the IWLCA Academic Honor roll last season.

From the coach: “Maggie was one of the most consistent players I have worked with in my career.Her composure, strong leadership and quiet tenacity was the glue that helped bond us both on and off the field.Maggie was able to step up and take care of the task at hand regardless of the situation, and no matter what it was, she always had the teams best interest in mind.”

#13 Jamison Seabury
Position: Midfield
Hometown: Manlius, NY
Major: Microbiology

Seabury, a dynamic playmaker throughout her entire career, sees her name in UR’s record books in a number of categories.  Her career totals include 86 goals, 20 assists and 106 points in 45 games through three seasons.  She also has 143 draw controls (3rd all-time), 199 shots on goal (3rd all-time), 68 ground balls and 35 caused turnovers.  Her 2.36 points per game are 10th in school history and She earned All-Liberty League honors for all three years, including garnering 1st Team accolades in 2018.

Here career-high in goals came in a win against the University of New England in 2019 when she scored five times.  Seabury also was a 2-time team captain and honored for her work in the classroom by being a 3-time All-Academic from the Liberty League.  In the fall, she was chosen as one of UR’s Garnish Scholar Athletes as well.

Her future plans involve working as a clinical research coordinator for the Rochester Center for Health and Technology.  Coach Behme endorses Seabury handsomely saying, “Jamison’s effort, relentless fight and leadership both on and off the field define her lacrosse legacy.  She always found a way to win a draw, transition the ball to attack or put in a goal when we needed it most.”

#5 Hannah Spaan
Position: Attack
Hometown: Penfield, NY
Major: Entrepreneurship

Our final senior appeared in 24 games in her career.  She accumulated nine points, scoring four goals and adding five points from her position on attack.  Spaan added three ground balls and accumulated two multi-goal games in her sophomore season, scoring twice against D’Youville and McDaniel.  Off the field she earned IWLCA Academic Honor Roll distinction as a junior and will be a 3-time member of the Liberty League All-Academic team later this spring.

Coach Behme praises Spaan’s work ethic.  “Hannah ‘Fish’ has overcome much adversity during her career.  She always brought a spark that her teammates needed in a crucial time during practice or game.”  Her plans after receiving her Business Entrepreneurship degree are still to be determined.