University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Lacrosse Heads To ECAC Tournament
May 08, 2003 | Women's Lacrosse
May 8, 2003
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Scouting Cornell: The Big Red comes into Saturday's match-up as the nation's 13th-ranked team, sporting a 10-5 overall record (4-3 Ivy League, fourth place). Coming off of over Harvard and Stanford, Cornell is making its fourth ECAC Championship appearance. The Big Red are led by Sarah Averson, a Tewaaraton Trophy candidate for national player of the year. Averson leads the team in scoring with 40 goals and 14 assists for 54 points. Senior Erica Holveck has performed well for the Big Red defensively, tallying a school-record 32 caused turnovers.
Cornell's Decorated Leader: Jenny Graap, the head coach of the Big Red, was selected as the 2002 IWLCA National Coach of the Year. She has posted a 66-28 mark in her six seasons at the Cornell helm.
Scouting the Minutewomen: With an 11-7 overall record (6-1 Atlantic 10, second place) UMass is led by a strong senior class. Senior Lydia Robinson leads the team with 41 goals and fellow senior Jada Emery is close behind with 36 season goals. Defensively, the Minutewomen are led by senior Kelli Kurtz, the 2003 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year. Kurtz has recorded 22 caused turnovers while defending the opponents' top offensive threat.
UMass' A-10 Tournament Results: Massachusetts is coming off of a trip to its fifth straight Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. As the second seed with a 6-1 conference record, UMass used a second half comeback to defeat third-seeded Richmond, 12-11, in overtime. After trailing 11-4 in the second half, Massachusetts went on a seven-goal scoring run to tie the game in the final seconds of regulation. Maura McGarrity clinched the victory for UMass with a goal late in the overtime session. The win allowed UMass to advance to the A-10 championship for the first time since 2000, where it had to face the top seed Temple. After leading for a short time in the first half, UMass was unable to hold off the Owls' offense, falling 15-9.
Postseason Accolades: After claiming second place in the Atlantic 10, UMass was rewarded with several postseason honors. Kelli Kurtz was named the A-10 Defensive Player of the Year and she was joined on the All-Conference squad by her teammates Cyndi Doyle, Jada Emery and Kristin St. Hilaire. Massachusetts received more recognition after advancing to the A-10 championship game, placing four players on the All-Tournament team (Doyle, Emery, Maura McGarrity and Zelinger).
Against Cornell: UMass is 0-1 against Cornell in the teams' all-time series. The only meeting between the two teams was in 2000, with the Minutewomen falling to the Big Red, 10-6 in Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first half, but Massachusetts came back to rally in the second half before falling to the Big Red, 10-6.
ECAC History: This marks the fourth time Massachusetts has closed out its season in the ECAC championship. In 1987 and 1988 the Minutewomen advanced to the championship of the postseason tournament, finishing as the runner-up. In its most recent appearance, UMass qualified for the 1998 semifinals where it fell to Penn State, 14-13. Massachusetts is 2-3 in ECAC Tournament play.
UMass vs. Ranked Opponents: No. 13 Cornell is the fourth top 20 opponent the Minutewomen have played this season. UMass faced No. 14 Dartmouth on March 16 (L, 13-6), No. 8 Syracuse on March 23 (L, 8-5) and No. 14 North Carolina on April 27 (L, 9-8).
In Rare Form: This year's Massachusetts squad (11-7) has posted more than 10 wins for the first time since Head Coach Pam Hixon led her 1983 team to a 12-3-1 mark.
Revisiting An Old Coach: Today marks the first time UMass has faced its former head coach, Phil Barnes. Now an assistant coach at Cornell, Barnes led the Minutewomen for three years, winning the A-10 title in 2000. Barnes left UMass after last season, posting a 24-18 overall record from 2000-2002.
The Minutewomen's New Leader: Head Coach Carrie Bolduc is in her first season as the leader of the Minutewomen. She served as an assistant coach under former UMass coach Phil Barnes for three seasons from 2000-2002, before being named the new head coach in the off-season. Under Barnes, Bolduc assisted with the goalkeepers, game-day preparations and recruiting. During her three years as a member of the Minutewomen's staff, the team recorded a 24-18-0 record and claimed the 2000 Atlantic 10 Conference title. Bolduc, a 1999 graduate of Syracuse University, is currently pursuing a master's degree in Interior and Architectural Design at UMass. Her 11 wins are the most by a first-year UMass head coach since Pam Hixon posted a 15-1-0 record during her 1979 inaugural campaign.
Fountain Of Youth: The UMass coaching staff is comprised of three recent Syracuse graduates. Bolduc, a 1999 Syracuse graduate, was a team captain as both a junior and senior and helped lead the Orangewomen to the 1999 ECAC championship. Tegan Leonard, a 2001 graduate, and Karen Healy, a 2002 graduate, both participated in the 2001 and 2002 NCAA Tournaments while at Syracuse.
Senior Leadership: UMass sports eight seniors on this year's squad after it lost no players to graduation in 2002. The experience of these upperclassmen is evident on the field as seniors Jada Emery and Lydia Robinson are the team's scoring leaders. With 86 and 80 career goals each, the senior duo ranks in ninth and 10th place, respectively, in the UMass record books for career goals.
Consistent Weapon: Robinson has been UMass' leader on offense this season. The senior has scored 41 goals this year, which tops the total (39) she scored in her first three years as a Minutewoman combined. Her offensive output ranks her third in the UMass record books in single-season goals and in 10th place in career goals with 80.
Young Guns: Sophomore Maura McGarrity and junior Hope Zelinger have established themselves as the offensive leaders of UMass' underclassmen. McGarrity is eighth in the Atlantic 10 with 16 goals in conference games, while Zelinger is 14th with 13 goals.
Tough D: The Minutewomen's defense is one of the nation's toughest, ranked No. 15 in the country in scoring defense with 8.22 goals allowed. UMass is 7-2 when yielding six or fewer goals this year.
Wall Of Steel: Senior goalkeeper Cyndi Doyle's solid protection of the UMass net has made her one of the nation's best goalies. Doyle's 8.33 goals against average ranks her 17th in the NCAA standings, and also puts her atop of the conference. Doyle is also leading the Atlantic 10 with a 7.44 goals against average in conference games.
UMass By The Numbers: Massachusetts is 8-1 when scoring at least 10 goals in a game, 2-3 when allowing an opponent to score in double-figures ... The Minutewomen are edging past their opponents 92-81 in the first half and topping them 98-67 in the second half ... Massachusetts is 8-0 when leading at the half and 1-6 after trailing at the intermission ... UMass is perfect in overtime games this season, posting a 2-0 mark ... Massachusetts has been outshot by an opponent four times this season, resulting in four losses ... Massachusetts is 10-4 when Lydia Robinson records multiple goals in a single game ... UMass is 1-3 when Robinson is held to under two goals per game ... the Minutewomen are 7-4 when recording 10 or more turnovers ... UM is 2-4 when tallying less than 10 caused turnovers.