Sonny Lionetti is an American collegiate women’s lacrosse defender best known for winning consecutive Northeast-10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2025 and 2026. During her time at Adelphi University, she earned national All-American recognition and helped the Panthers reach the 2025 NCAA Division II championship final.
Her college lacrosse experience began at Arizona State University before she joined Adelphi in 2024. Following three seasons with the Panthers, she was listed as a fifth-year defender on the University of Massachusetts’ 2027 women’s lacrosse roster.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Sonny Lionetti |
| Hometown | Point Lookout, New York |
| Playing position | Defender |
| High school | Sacred Heart Academy |
| College programmes | Arizona State, Adelphi, Massachusetts |
| Major awards | NE10 Defensive Player of the Year (2025, 2026) |
| National honours | USA Lacrosse and IWLCA First Team All-American (2026) |
| Academic major | Marketing at Adelphi University |
Who Is Sonny Lionetti in Women’s Lacrosse?
Sonny Lionetti is a college lacrosse player from Point Lookout, New York, whose achievements have centred on defensive performance. She attended Sacred Heart Academy before entering collegiate competition at Arizona State University in 2023.
Her most recognised accomplishments came at Adelphi, where she developed into a regular starter and earned consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards from the Northeast-10 Conference.
She also received national honours from USA Lacrosse and the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA). Both organisations selected her for their Second Team All-American lists in 2025, and their First Team lists the following year.
Her accomplishments belong primarily to NCAA Division II women’s lacrosse, where Adelphi competed during her three seasons with the programme.
From Sacred Heart Academy to Arizona State and Adelphi
Lionetti attended Sacred Heart Academy in New York, where her lacrosse background included recognition on a Long Island Lacrosse Journal high-school watch list and selection for an all-star game.
She subsequently joined Arizona State University’s women’s lacrosse programme. In a season preview published on 17 February 2023, Sun Devil Athletics identified her as a freshman defender.
During that early period, she expressed enthusiasm for Arizona State’s school spirit, athletic environment and supporters. Her comments appeared in the university’s official coverage ahead of the 2023 season.
By 2024, she had moved to Adelphi University, beginning the part of her collegiate career that would bring several conference and national distinctions.
Her first Adelphi season included 23 appearances and 21 starts. She recorded 23 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers, contributing regularly to the Panthers’ defensive unit.
Her 2024 season ended with NE10 Third Team All-Conference recognition, followed by a First Team selection and Defensive Player of the Year award in 2025.
How Lionetti Earned Consecutive NE10 Defensive Awards
The 2025 season brought a significant increase in Lionetti’s recorded defensive contributions.
Starting all 23 games for Adelphi, she collected 44 ground balls, caused 35 turnovers, and registered 66 draw controls. She led the team in ground balls and ranked second among her teammates in caused turnovers.
In lacrosse, ground balls record a player’s recovery of loose balls, caused turnovers credit defensive actions that make opponents lose possession, and draw controls record possession secured following a draw.
In April 2025, the Northeast-10 Conference named Lionetti its Defensive Player of the Year. She also earned First Team All-Conference honours, improving on her Third Team selection from 2024.
Another Northeast-10 lacrosse player recognised in 2025 was Matt Lemay, who earned the conference’s Co-Rookie of the Year award at Saint Anselm College.
Her success continued in 2026.
According to Adelphi’s postseason report published on 20 May 2026, she finished that campaign with 33 caused turnovers, 34 ground balls and 45 draw controls.
Earlier conference reporting had listed 29 caused turnovers before the completion of the season. Adelphi’s later figures provide the completed-season totals.
On 28 April 2026, the NE10 announced her second consecutive Defensive Player of the Year award, along with another First Team All-Conference selection.
She became Adelphi’s first repeat winner of the award since Ryley Weber, who received the distinction in 2016 and 2017.
Her consecutive awards followed two seasons of documented defensive contributions, including ground-ball recoveries, caused turnovers, and draw controls.
Her All-American Honours and 2025 NCAA Championship Run
Lionetti’s performances also attracted recognition beyond the Northeast-10 Conference.
In 2025, USA Lacrosse and the IWLCA both selected her as a Second Team All-American in Division II women’s lacrosse.
That same season, Adelphi advanced to the NCAA Division II women’s lacrosse championship game.
The Panthers faced the University of Tampa on 24 May 2025, losing 15–9 in the national final. Despite the defeat, Lionetti received a place on the championship all-tournament team.
Her recognition continued before the following collegiate campaign began.
On 3 February 2026, USA Lacrosse included her on its Division II Women’s Preseason All-American First Team. A day later, the organisation named her its preseason Defender of the Year.
These were preseason selections, separate from the awards presented after the competitive season.
By May 2026, Lionetti had earned another set of national honours.
USA Lacrosse named her a First Team All-American on 12 May, while Adelphi confirmed her IWLCA First Team All-American selection in its announcement on 20 May.
The progression was clear: both organisations had placed her on their Second Teams in 2025 before recognising her on their First Teams in 2026.
Her national selections complemented her two NE10 Defensive Player of the Year awards and established a record of individual achievements across successive Division II seasons.
Sonny Lionetti’s Move to Massachusetts for 2027
After completing her 2026 season at Adelphi, Lionetti appeared on the University of Massachusetts‘ official 2027 women’s lacrosse roster.
UMass lists her as a fifth-year defender wearing jersey number 41, with Point Lookout, New York, as her hometown and Sacred Heart Academy as her high school.
The roster listing follows her collegiate progression through Arizona State in 2023 and Adelphi from 2024 to 2026.
Her transfer to Massachusetts represents the next documented stage of her college lacrosse career. As of October 2026, the 2027 season had not begun, so her Massachusetts playing appearances and statistics were not yet established.
Her Massachusetts roster listing follows three Adelphi seasons in which she earned consecutive conference defensive awards, progressed to national First Team All-American recognition, and participated in the 2025 NCAA Division II championship final.