WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University women's lacrosse team was picked to finish second in the BIG EAST Conference by the league's coaches in the 2019 preseason poll released Wednesday. Additionally, five Hoyas were named Preseason All-BIG EAST including three earning the honor unanimously.  Earlier this week, the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association announced its preseason poll and the Hoyas sat at No. 22.
 
Senior midfielder Francesca Whitehurst (Baltimore, Md. / Roland Park Country School) is receiving her third Preseason All-BIG EAST nod going into her senior season and was a unanimous selection.  She suffered a season-ending injury last year so appeared in just eight games with 12 goals and five assists to her credit along with 44 draw controls. She is the lone returning captain on the squad after serving as one in 2018. In her career she was the 2017 BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year and a First Team All-BIG EAST honoree as well as an IWLCA Second Team All-South Region selection. As a freshman, she earned Second Team All-BIG EAST honors.  She sits at No. 6 on the all-time list for career draw controls (136) and is fifth in the season ranking with 73 in 2017.
 
Senior attacker Taylor Gebhardt (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) was another unanimous selection for the Blue & Gray.  Last year, she was a unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST first team after another outstanding season. Gebhardt led the Hoyas in scoring with 65 points on 53 goals and 12 assists. Gebhardt was named the BIG EAST Attacker of the Week on April 24 and to the honor roll on April 17. She has been named a captain for 2019.
 
Junior midfielder Natalia Lynch (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) also earned unanimous honors from the league's coaches.  Lynch was a First Team All-BIG EAST and GU's team MVP a year ago after making a huge impact on both ends of the field. She ranked third on the team in scoring with 25 goals and 14 assists for 39 points. Lynch also led the Blue & Gray in draw controls and caused turnovers with 81 and 23, respectively. She was named the BIG EAST Midfielder of the Week on April 17 and to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on April 3.
 
Senior goalkeeper Haelle Chomo (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier) was another preseason selection.  Chomo played a majority of the minutes in the cage last year and boasted 161 saves to go along with an 11.98 goals-against average as well as a .445 save percentage. She had an impressive record of 11-7 on the season. She was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on February 27 and March 20. 
 
Rounding out the honorees was sophomore defender Mollie Miller (Alexandria, Va./Saint Stephens & Saint Agnes).  Miller started all 19 games on the backline for the Blue & Gray. She was third on the team in caused turnovers with 14, and managed one assist on offense. She was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on April 10. Miller was just one of just three sophomores to earn preseason honors in the league.
 
Georgetown earned 21 points from the league's six head coaches as well as one first-place vote to sit in second behind the University of Denver with 25 points and five first place votes. Marquette claimed third with 16 points, followed by Villanova in fourth with 14. BIG EAST newcomer Old Dominion and Butler rounded out the poll in fifth and sixth, respectively.
 
The Hoyas returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2018 and spent the entire year in the national rankings sitting as high as No. 21 in the IWLCA poll and No. 17 in the Inside Lacrosse poll. Georgetown finished the season with a mark of 12-7.
 
The Hoyas will start off 2019 against Saint Joseph's for the second year in a row.  The game is scheduled for Feb. 9 in Philadelphia.  The team will face eight squads that finished 2018 ranked in the top 25 nationally as well as eight NCAA Tournament qualifiers.