Farmingdale alumna leads Pioneers to NCAA II berth
Farmingdale High School graduate Olivia Kirk and the rest of the LIU Post Pioneers women’s lacrosse team will be one of the six teams representing the North Region in the upcoming NCAA Division II Women’s Lacrosse Championship. This marks the fourth time in the past five years that the green and gold have qualified for the national tournament. The Pioneers, seeded third, will travel to Syracuse and play sixth-seeded University of New Haven in a first-round match-up on Saturday, May 14. The winner of that game will move on to play host Le Moyne College in a national quarterfinal contest on Sunday, May 15.
Kirk was named the Most Outstanding Player of the East Coast Conference (ECC) Tournament after stopping 14 shots in the two postseason contests.
Kirk, a sophomore, helped second-seeded LIUPost capture its second-consecutive ECC title, defeating top-seeded Dowling College by a 7-6 final at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium in Central Islip on May 7.
It marked the third straight year that the Pioneers (16-3) and Golden Lions (16-3) faced off for the league championship. They split the last two meetings, with LIU Post pulling out an 11-6 victory in 2015.
On May 5, Kirk was selected as the ECC Goalkeeper of the Year and to the All-ECC First Team. As of that date, Kirk held the top goals-against average and save percentage in Division II and the ECC, sporting individual clips of 4.37 and .584.
On April 25, Kirk was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week after a 6.05 goals-against average and .571 save percentage on the week.
—Submitted by LIU Post
