Ayla Shea shares excitement for America East women’s lacrosse tournament
Fairfax, VT native Ayla Shea has been one of the country’s top women’s lacrosse goalies. Hear from the star junior.
After hours, days and months of preparation, the Vermont women’s lacrosse team is back where it wants to be: the postseason.
The Catamounts return to the America East tournament after a two-year hiatus that saw Vermont record back-to-back sixth-place finishes in the America East.
“You look at our conference record last year, we lost four games, by a total of eight … there’s no worse taste in your mouth then when you know you have the ball in your stick and not have it go your way,” sais UVM coach Sarah Dalton Graddock, recently named America East’s Coach of the Year. “A lot of times you have to learn it the hard way and we had to take our punches last year, but a lot of those kids are back on the field for us and making those plays.”
This year, Vermont women’s lacrosse (9-6) is the favorite to earn the program’s second berth to the NCAA Tournament after claiming the top seed for the first time with a 5-1 conference record and winning the goal differential tie-breaker.
The Catamounts will take on No. 4 UMBC in the America East semifinals on Friday, May 1 at 4 p.m. on Virtue Field. The championship game will be played on Sunday, May 3 at noon also on Virtue Field. All the games will be streamed on ESPN+.
Here are the keys for how Vermont women’s lacrosse captured the top seed:
The cohesiveness of the team
Vermont is a veteran-led team with 21 upperclassmen with nearly the entire team spending their whole collegiate careers in Burlington. Many of the Catamounts key contributors such as leading goal scorer Jane Trauger and five of Vermont’s top seven scorers are all upperclassmen.
The Catamounts have a similar makeup on the defensive end with all their key defenders upperclassmen starting with America East co-goalie of the year Ayla Shea, whose .517 save percentage which ranks fourth nationally. Vermont’s defense also includes all-conference second team selections Sabine Goodwin and Kiera Larney.
“We are just a really cohesive unit, offense plays for defense, and defense plays for offense,” Shea said. “Our sideline, our fans, everyone is always cheering for us and keeping the energy in the game and we love being out there with each other with one goal that we share.”
The defense has also been a huge strength for Vermont as the Catamounts ranked first in scoring defense, allowing just 7.33 goals per game during America East play. That mark is the lowest in the league since 2022.
“We limit teams very well and it has been a game changer in conference (play) to have a defense that’s so strong and a goalie like Ayla that can hold us down back there,” Trauger said. “For us on the attacking end, when we watch them make those stops and saves, it really fires us up.”
Reliance on depth is paying off
Vermont does not lead the America East in any statistical category, emphasizing how important the Catamounts’ depth has been this season.
“We are lucky to have an attack this year where anyone can score three or four goals in a game, literally any of the seven girls on the field and we have had it in all of our games this year,” Trauger said. “Different people have had great games and I think that makes us super un-scout-able and hard to figure out how to beat.”
The team has showcased its depth all season. Traguer leads the team with 39 goals and tied the program-record with eight goals in the Catamounts’ 14-4 win over Albany. Other times it has been players such as junior Karina Sethi scoring a career-high five goals in the Binghamton win, or sophomore Caitlin Haggerty tallying five goals against LIU in February.
In the regular-season finale, Lauren Lefebvre was the Catamounts leading scorer, tallying a hat trick in Vermont’s 14-12 win over UMass Lowell. Overall Vermont has five players who have scored over 15 goals this season.
Winning has been contagious across campus
The women’s lacrosse team becomes the fifth Vermont team this school year to host the America East championship game in Burlington joining the women’s and men’s soccer teams and the women’s basketball and field hockey teams.
Dalton Graddock believes seeing the other women-coached teams (women’s soccer, women’s basketball and field hockey) have success is going to pay off for her team despite the limited postseason experience.
“All of our juniors, seniors and fifth-years all bought in and that’s contagious,” Dalton Graddock said. “These girls have seen a lot of success at this school and I think winning is contagious. When you see your peers go out and compete for championships you want that taste as well.”
Contact Judith Altneu at JAltneu@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @Judith_Altneu.
