CLEMSON, S.C. – Seven Clemson Lacrosse freshmen were named to the Nike/ILWomen Power 100 Freshman Rankings, Inside Lacrosse announced Wednesday morning. Clemson’s seven players selected to the list are the third-most by any school in the country and the most that Clemson has ever had.
The 2025 class was Inside Lacrosse’s top-ranked class nationally after the additions of Tessa DeLuca, Aubrie Eisfeld, Marleigh O’Day, Kyla Orlando, Ella Pauley, Emma Penczek, Kiera Schwartz, Teagan Scott, Alexa Spallina and Ella Wilner. Spallina was tabbed the No. 1-overall freshman in the country by the publication, and Penczek was named the No. 2-overall freshman. Eisfeld was placed just inside the top-15 with DeLuca and O’Day rounding out the top-50. Pauley and Scott were also named to the Nike/ILWomen Power 100 Freshman Rankings Watchlist for freshmen ranked between No. 51 and No. 100 by Inside Lacrosse.
Spallina joined Clemson after a decorated high school career. The highest-ranked recruit in Clemson Lacrosse history was a three-time USA Lacrosse All-America honoree, selected as High School Player of the Week from the same publication and was a multi-time All-Long Island and All-Suffolk County selection. Spallina comes from a lineage of lacrosse players, with her brothers all having played at Syracuse and her father being the head coach of the Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team. She and Trevor Lawrence are the only No. 1-ranked recruits to sign with Clemson.
A 2025 Maryland High School Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee, Penczek had an equally storied career out of high school. The Maryland native is the holder of the state record for most career points with 487 (329 goals and 158 assists) and holds the Manchester Valley High School record for points (487), goals (329), assists (158), draw controls (437) and caused turnovers (122). In the past year, Penczek was named the USA Lacrosse Mid-Atlantic Player of the Year, USA Lacrosse National Player of the Year, Peace Lacrosse Women’s Player of the Year, the Baltimore Sun Girls Athlete of the Year and the Baltimore Sun All-Metro Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year. She is the second No. 2-ranked overall recruit by Inside Lacrosse to join the Tigers after rising junior Natalie Shurtleff.
The No. 14-overall recruit per Inside Lacrosse, Eisfeld was a spectacular midfielder for Bayport-Blue Point High School. The New Yorker twice led them to the Section XI New York State Championships in 2023 and 2025 and was also named NewsDay Player of the Year in 2025. Eisfeld was named twice to USA Lacrosse’s All-America team and was selected twice to All-Suffolk County.
DeLuca became the No. 30-ranked recruit after her time at Maryvale Preparatory. During her tenure in the cage for Maryvale, DeLuca was named to the All-Metro Second Team, USA Lacrosse Mid-Atlantic All-Region Team (Also Considered) and led Maryvale to a 2025 IAAM “A” Conference Championship. During Best in Class 2023, she was selected to the All-Event Team and named both the Player That Impressed and Standout as well as the IWLCA President’s Cup Player of the Match the year prior.
An attacker from Phoenix, Md., O’Day was named the No. 48-ranked incoming freshman. The New Balance All-America Senior Game selectee earned captaincy twice for lacrosse. She was additionally named two times to the All-America Baltimore Team, led St. Paul’s High School for Girls lacrosse team in points during her junior season and was the IAAM “A” conference champion in 2022 and 2024.
Pauley came to the Tigers out of Milton, Ga. The Watchlist member was a four-time state champion for Milton High School and was named the 2024 7A Georgia Midfielder of the Year. Additionally, the Georgia native was a two-time USA Lacrosse All-America honoree with multiple All-State and All-Region selections. Staying in-state, Scott joined the Tigers from Oceanside Collegiate Academy. The attacker is a four-time USA Lacrosse All-America selectee, All-State First Team Midfield and All-Lower State First Team. Scott has also been named the Post & Courier Lacrosse Player of the Year twice and honored as the Lower-State Midfielder of the Year and Player of the Year three times.
The full press release by Inside Lacrosse can be found here.
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