QUICK FACTS
Head Coach: Molly Romano (8th season)
2025 Record: 13-5-2 (9-1-1 Empire 8)
2025 Leaders: Goals (Emily Woolingham, 11), Assists (Madelyn Wania, 8), Points (Woolingham, 29), Saves (Avery Byrnes, 30), Shutouts (Byrnes/Isabella Ayers, 5)
SETTING THE SCENE
Years of shaping a consistent winner culminated in 2025 for head coach Molly Romano’s Cardinals with the best season in program history. St. John Fisher (13-5-2 overall) won 13 games for the first time since 1983 – including a program record nine regular-season conference contests – and captured its first-ever Empire 8 title to secure an NCAA Tournament bid. In the E8 Tournament, Fisher took out Houghton and rival Nazareth at home before beating top-seeded SUNY Brockport in extra time on the road in the championship game. The Cardinals’ victory over Nazareth in the E8 semifinals ended a four-game postseason losing streak to their East Avenue foe and gave them their first stretch of consecutive wins over the Golden Flyers since a two-game run back in 1992-93.
Calling the Cardinals dominant in 2025 would have been an understatement. Strong on both ends of the field, they outscored their opponents by 37 (47-10), totaled their most goals in a season since at least 2000, recorded a program record 13 shutouts, ranked 25th in DIII in goals-against average (5.26) and at one point rattled off seven consecutive wins, the longest winning streak in program history.
The Cardinals’ 2025 squad featured eight All-E8 selections and three United Soccer Coaches All-Region honorees. With their selections, Emily Woolingham and Madelyn Wania became the first two players to earn first-team All-Region honors under Romano, who enters her eighth season as the Cardinals’ head coach in 2026.
St. John Fisher returns three of its All-Conference selections from last year, including Woolingham, the reigning E8 Offensive Player of the Year, as it prepares to defend its league title and vie for a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Emily Woolingham, Jr., F – Woolingham produced one of the best offensive seasons by a Cardinal in program history in 2025, tallying an Empire 8-leading 29 points on 11 goals (tied for first in E8) and seven assists (second in E8). Her 29 points marked the fifth most by a Fisher player in a season. One of two players in program history to be named Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year, Woolingham had three points or more in five games, including a career-high six on two goals and two assists in a victory over Elmira.
Francesca Logrippo, Sr., F – Logrippo matched her career high in goals (2) and set career highs in points (9) and assists (5) last season on her way to first-team All-Empire 8 honors. Most notably, though, she had the star role in the most iconic play in program history, scoring the golden goal in No. 2-seeded St. John Fisher’s 1-0 overtime victory over top-seeded SUNY Brockport in the Empire 8 title game. Logrippo was later named Most Valuable Player of the E8 Championship Tournament.
Carli Maltbie, Jr., M – An All-Empire 8 selection in each of the last two seasons, including as a second-team honoree in 2025, Maltbie has played in 50 games with 34 starts in her collegiate career. She has scored four goals for eight total points in addition to providing strong play on the defensive end.
Isabella Ayers, So., GK – Ayers played in nine games and started in seven of St. John Fisher’s final eight contests, including all four in the postseason, as a freshman last season. She made 29 saves and allowed just three goals for a .906 save percentage, recorded five shutouts and posted a 6-1 record in her seven starts. Ayers made 10 saves in a road victory over Nazareth during the regular season and six saves against nationally ranked Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Tournament.
DID YOU KNOW?
With her 11 goals in 2025, Woolingham joined Colleen Mullaley and Carli Kovarik as just the third Cardinal to score 10 or more times in a season since 2000. Mullaley netted 11 goals in 2001, and Kovarik accomplished the feat twice in her collegiate career, finding the back of the net 15 times in 2021 and 10 times in 2018.
