Clemson women's lacrosse hosting historic recruiting weekend

Lacrosse hosts several of the nation's top players this weekend.

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Fri Sep 08 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2023

The Clemson women’s lacrosse program has only played one season, but head coach Allison Kwolek and staff are already making waves in the recruiting arena and attracting the nation’s top talent to Clemson.

The lacrosse program went 12-6 overall, earned a bye in the ACC Tournament and was ranked as high as No. 14 in its first season. It only took three ACC matches for the team to score its first victory over a top-15 program in then No. 13 Duke.

With Clemson’s announcement of the program also came the plans for a brand-new women’s lacrosse complex and stadium, along with a state-of-the-art performance and wellness center for all student-athletes.

Kwolek told TigerNet that Clemson’s commitment to excellence across the board is why the best players in the country are interested in the Tigers.

“The commitment that Clemson has made to the women’s lacrosse program, in every aspect of the student-athlete experience, says a lot about how special this place is,” Kwolek said. “That commitment clearly resonates with recruits who want to compete at the highest level.”

Kwolek brought top talent in to start the program, including five 5-star and four 4-star recruits according to Inside Lacrosse. The Tigers have the No. 1 ranked goalkeeper in Emily Lamparter and two of the top-five players – Summer Agostino and Demma Hall – from the 2021 class. Freshmen Natalie Shurtleff and Regan Byrne were both ranked as five stars in the 2023 recruiting rankings.

Building off of the momentum of the program’s first season, Kwolek and her staff will have seven of the nation’s top 35 – and four of the top five – recruits for the 2025 class on hand this weekend for the football home opener against Charleston Southern.

The No. 1 women’s lacrosse player in the country, Alexa Spallina, out of Mount Sinai (NY), headlines the group. Spallina comes from a long line of lacrosse players as her father, Joe, is the head coach of Stony Brook – a perennial top-15 program – and three of her brothers will play lacrosse at Syracuse next season, including her oldest brother, who was the 2023 ACC Freshman of the year.

Inside Lacrosse said the following about Spallina:

“Spallina is a shifty attacker with a high lacrosse IQ. She has a quick first step cutting and going to goal. Spallina uses her strength around the crease and knows when to take the shot or hit the open player. She has a presence on the field, and her team looks to her to start the attack. With her dodging ability, she can place the shots with precision.”

Coming from Hempstead (MD) Manchester Valley, Emma Penczek is ranked No. 2 in the country and was the 2023 Carroll Country Times Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year and Baltimore Sun’s 2023 All-Metro Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year after she helped Manchester Valley win a state title. She finished the 2023 season with 93 goals.

Inside Lacrosse said the following about Penczek:

“A left-handed two-way midfielder, Penczek makes plays in nearly every aspect of the game. She’s displayed the ability to beat defenders with either hand to get to the goal. Aside from being a goal-scorer, she has impressive vision in settled offense and can find an open teammate while dodging at full speed.”

Going into her junior season, Ridgefield (CT) midfielder Gabby Laurentani has already scored over 100 goals and was lauded as one of the state’s best players. As a sophomore, she was named to the Connecticut Class L All-State First Team. Laurentani is currently ranked fourth in the 2025 class.

Also coming from the Empire State, recruit Reese King out of East Quogue (NY) West Hampton Beach is the fifth-ranked prospect in the country and will also be on hand. King plays for the Long Island Yellow Jackets, the country's top-ranked club program. As an eighth grader in 2021, King scored 24 points. She can score from both the left and right and is tough to beat on the circle.

Ridgewood (NJ) junior Kiera Schwartz is ranked 17th in the country by Lacrosse Magazine and has been named First-team All-League, All-Country, All-Conference, All-State Group 4 and Third Team All-State during both of her first two seasons. She has 81 career goals, 63 assists, scored 144 points (goals and assists combined), and is credited with 96 draw controls.

Rounding out a trio from Maryland is Tessa Deluca out of Lutherville-Timonium (MD) Maryvale Prep and Maeve Cavanaugh out of Edgewater (MD) Archbishop Spalding both play club lacrosse for the M&D Lacrosse Club and are ranked Nos. 31 and 32 in the nation, respectively, by Lacrosse Magazine. They also rank Deluca as the No. 2 goalie in the nation. Cavanaugh was named a USA Lacrosse All-American, First Team All-Metro by the Baltimore Sun, and First Team All-Anne Arundel County, and she played in the New Balance All-American Game.

Hailing from the Palmetto State, Mount Pleasant (SC) Oceanside Collegiate’s Teagan Scott is unique because she also plays for the Long Island Yellow Jackets. She is a two-time US Lacrosse All-American, two-time All Lower State Midfielder, South Carolina Coaches Association Player of the Year, South Carolina Lower State Player of the Year and South Carolina Lower State Midfielder of the Year. Scott has played in 34 games and is credited with 155 goals, and 66 assists.

Ella Pauley, who already visited Clemson earlier this week, out of Milton (GA) is ranked 25th by Lacrosse Magazine and is on Inside Lacrosse’s 5-Star Watch List after helping her team to the 7A Georgia State Championship, being selected as the Midfield Player of the Year and setting a program record for draw controls (263).