University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Lacrosse Travels To St. Bonaventure, Duquesne This Weekend
April 14, 2005 | Women's Lacrosse
April 14, 2005
Massachusetts (4-7) at St. Bonaventure (7-3)
Friday, April 15, 2005 • 3:00 p.m.
McGraw-Jennings Field
St. Bonaventure, N.Y.
Gametracker: None
Massachusetts (4-7) at Duquesne (8-2)
Sunday, April 17, 2005 • 1:00 p.m.
Arthur J. Rooney Field (4,500)
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Gametracker: None
Minutewomen Head Out On Longest Road Trip Of Year This Weekend
• UMass takes to its longest road trip of the year as they head to St. Bonaveture (7-3, 0-3 A-10) and Duquesne (8-2, 3-0 A-10) this weekend. This is a key weekend of the Minutewomen as the results could play a major role in the four teams who make the conference tournament in May.
• Despite being the youngest team in the Atlantic 10, the Minutewomen are receiving excellent contributions from its freshman class. Highlighted by the play of Kathleen Typadis, the rookies have contributed 48.9 percent of the team's total points to date including 49 of UMass' 102 goals scored (48.0 percent).
• Junior Kerri Connerty's 24 goals and eight assists along with Typadis' 24 goals and six assists lead the team.
• Typadis is having an outstanding season to date as she is on track to shatter the freshman scoring record for UMass. She is also the first player in a decade to post four consecutive hat tricks, five total for the season, which she did in her first four collegiate games.
• Freshmen Melynda Zwick and Ashleigh Szawlowski and sophomore Samantha Sepulveda have become impact players over the last seven games. The trio has combined for 34 of the teams 102 points in those games. Zwick and Szawlowski have each posted a pair of hat tricks in those games. Sepulveda has continued her consistent play this season scoring a point in every game but two. At New Hampshire, she scored the game-winning goal with six seconds remaining in regulation.
• Connerty has registered 27 of her 32 points this season over the last seven games posting three hat tricks and six multi-point games in that stretch.
Typadis Off To Hot Start
• Freshman Kathleen Typadis earned her second A-10 weekly honor on March 14 for her efforts in the win over Albany. She was tabbed the league's Co-Rookie of the Week after scoring four goals and adding two assists.
• Earlier this season, she was named the A-10 Rookie of the Week for the week ending on Monday, Feb. 28, after she scored three goals and assisted on another in her rookie debut helping UMass defeat Holy Cross (2/26).
• Her three goals against the Crusaders were the most by a freshman in a season-opener over the last five seasons. Typadis joins four other freshman over that time period to score three-or-more goals in a game: 5, Angela McMahon vs. Vermont (3/28/01); 4, Briana Bubeck at Albany (3/17/04); 3, Maura McGarity at George Washington (3/16/02); 3, Miriam Godfrey vs. Vermont (3/28/01).
More On Typadis
• With her next hat trick, Typadis would become only the second UMass women's lacrosse player to have six games of three-or-more goals in her freshman season. Joanna Dignazio totaled six such games in 1995, including four consecutive games.
• Dignazio also holds the record for the most freshman goals in the women's lacrosse modern era (since 1995) with 33 goals in 13 games during the 1995 campaign. She also handed out five assists to total 38 points.
• The Medfield, Mass. native was the first Medfield HS player to score 100 career goals highlighted by 77 scores in her senior season.
• The freshman also enjoys playing the guitar - she takes her guitar with her on road trips and is part of the three member band `Agoo' made up of Typadis and fellow freshmen Kristina Twichell and Julie Papaleo.
Minutewomen Have Strong History In Atlantic 10 Action
• The Minutewomen have been picked to finish second in the conference this year by the league's coaches in a preseason vote.
• In the six years affiliated with the league, UMass has one regular season title and one tournament title to its name (both in 2000).
• UMass boasts the second best all-time record in league play among conference members. Temple holds the best record among league rivals at 36-2, while UMass is 28-10.
• UMass finished third in the conference last season with a 4-3 record.
• The winner of the A-10 Lacrosse Championship gains an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Atlantic 10 Games To Be Aired On The Internet
• After the response from broadcasting the Syracuse and Hofstra games, UMass will add three more games to the broadcast slate.
• Home contests versus Atlantic 10 rivals La Salle (4/8), George Washington (4/24), and Richmond (5/1) will now be broadcast over the internet. Matt Goldstein will call the action.
Super Soph's
• Sophomores Shelley Boyle and Samantha Sepulveda have made solid contributions to the offensive lineup this season. Boyle has scored seven points this season, while Sepulveda has scored in six of the last eight games. Through 10 games this season, both players have surpassed their rookie scoring totals.
Fearsome Foursome
• Over the last seven games, the quartet of Kerri Connerty, Ashleigh Szawlowski, Samantha Sepulveda and Melynda Zwick have contributed 61 of UMass' 102 points. Connerty has 20 goals and seven assists, `Swuz' has scored 11 goals and picked up an assist, Zwick has 10 goals and four assists, while Sepulveda has six goals and two assists in the stretch.
Showing Improvement
• Despite having a young team, UMass has improved statistically over last season's team. After the 10 games, the Minutewomen are shooting much better scoring on 47.9 percent of their shots compared to 40.2 percent. Defensively, the Minutewomen have caused nine more turnovers (76-to-67) and scooped up 80 more groundballs (219-to-139).
• 13 different players have recorded points this season compared to 7 in 2004.
• Attendance is also up dramatically. 1,275 fans have seen the Minutewomen at Garber Field (1,058 on the road) compared to 451 at home and 679 on the road a season ago.
Connerty Earns Player of the Week After Albany Win
• Junior Kerri Connerty earned the second A-10 Performer of the Week honor of her career after scoring a career-high six goals against visiting Albany (3/13). She also assisted on two other scores to give her a career-high eight points in the 19-10 win.
• For her career, Connerty has now scored 10 goals and posted seven assists against the Danes. Last season it was her go-ahead goal that secured the 17-15 UMass win as they fought back from a second-half deficit. In this season's meeting, it was her final goal of the game which ended a three-goal Albany rally pulling the Danes within five, 14-9, which sealed the victory.
• The junior now has 52 goals and 21 assists in 42 career games played.
More On Connerty
• After missing the Harvard game due to injury, Kerri Connerty has been on fire for the Minutewomen scoring 20 goals and picking up seven assists. She scored two goals and added two assists in the win over UNH. She followed that a week later with another two goal, two assist performance in the loss at Boston College - her fifth multi-point effort on the season.
• Against No. 7 Dartmouth, she scored five goals to lead UMass.
• Connerty posted her seventh career hat trick in win over La Salle (4/8) ... over the last four games she averaged four points per outing.
• Connerty's steady progression has moved her up the rankings among Atlantic 10 players. She currently ranks 7th in points per game (3.33), 10th in goals per game (2.33), and 7th in assists per game (1.00).
 Junior Jackie Nesbitt took the team lead with a career-high eight groundballs in the win over La Salle.  |
|
A Bit Unusual - McCarthy Leads UMass In Groundballs
• That is until junior Jackie Nesbitt collected a career-high eight groundballs in the win over La Salle (4/8) ... Nesbitt now leads the Minutewoman defense with 31 groundballs.
• Goalkeeper Lauren McCarthy has picked up 28 looseballs in front of her cage to rank second on the team in the category.
• McCarthy had a career-high seven groundballs - that was also a team high for the season until Nesbitt's eight GB's - at Boston University (3/2).
Inside The Series
• UMass is a 9-2 all-time against the Hawks since the series began in 1994.
• The Minutewomen will be going for their 10th win all-time in the series. The match-up has been an even one over the last two seasons as the teams have split the meetings and the games have been decided by just two points.
• The teams last met at Garber Field in 2003. SJU won that match-up in the only overtime contest of the series.
• The first meeting was on April 10, 1994 in Philadelphia - a 12-7 win for UMass.
UMass Picked Second In A-10 Preseason Poll
• The women's lacrosse team has been picked second in the Atlantic 10 Conference entering the 2005 season as picked by the league's coaches in a preseason poll. The Minutewomen finished third in the A-10 last year with a 4-3 conference mark. UMass fell in the league semifinals last season to Temple who won the conference title before losing to Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Duquesne is the top pick in the league, followed by the Minutewomen, Richmond and Temple. George Washington and St. Bonaventure are tied for fifth in the poll with La Salle and Saint Joseph's rounding out the picks.
• Since 1999, UMass has finished no lower than third in the conference highlighted by a tournament crown in 2000.
No Easy Schedule
• Seven of this season's 17 scheduled opponents have been ranked in the IWLCA Top-20 Poll: Boston University, Dartmouth, George Washington, Hofstra, New Hampshire, Syracuse, and Temple. Dartmouth leads the packed ranked 7th in the current poll.
• Boston University cracked the top-10, ranked as high as No. 9 in week three, but has slipped to the No. 11 spot since. Dartmouth is just ahead of No. 10 Hofstra and the Terriers at the No. 7 spot, while Syracuse is ranked 17th. After being ranked in the first two polls and receiving votes in the third edition, New Hampshire has fallen out of the poll.
• Temple made its first appearance in the rankings at No. 16, while George Washington is the only other A-10 school to receive votes.
 Sophomore Lauren Reid tallied her first career goal earlier this week against No. 7 Dartmouth. She is one of 13 UMass players to score a point this season. |
|
Minutewomen Host School-Record 10 Games
• The 10 home games in 2005 is the most ever in program history which should give the Minutewomen a distinct advantage.
• The home schedule includes two sets of three-game home stands.
• Head coach Carrie Bolduc will face her alma mater on March 19 as the Minutewomen host Syracuse.
• All-time UMass is 80-67-2 in front of the UMass faithful.
Veteran St. Hilaire Leads Minutewomen Defense
• Fifth-year senior Kristin St. Hilaire anchors the Minutewomen from her defensive spot in 2005. The native of Syracuse, N.Y. was named the 2004 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year after her performance down low last season.
• Additionally, she is a three-time selection to the A-10 All-Conference team, a two-time member of the A-10 All-Tournament team and a two-time IWLCA All-Region selection.
• The veteran has started all 60 career contests - the only returning player to start every game played.
New Faces
• 13 members of the Minutewomen are new. Along with the 13 freshmen players, UMass has three sophomores on the roster.
• Among A-10 teams, UMass features the most freshmen players followed by Temple and Richmond which have nine each.
• Richmond has one of the youngest rosters in the league featuring 18 underclassmen on its 26 player roster.
Drown Named Assistant
• That is a familiar face you see on the UMass sideline, but Tracey Drown has switched roles this season making the transition from All-American player to Assistant coach. On August 19, Drown was named assistant to head coach Carrie Bolduc. She was a third-team All-American as a senior in 2004 leading UMass with 47 goals and 17 assists. Those 47 goals were the second most in a single-season for the Minutewomen. For her career, Drown tallied 61 goals and 20 assists picking up All-Conference and All-Region honors as a senior.
Pavlick, Murphy Return To Garber Field As Head Coaches of Holy Cross and Richmond
• This season two former Minutewomen return to Garber Field as head coaches of the opposition. Stephanie Pavlick whose Holy Cross Crusaders open the season for UMass played from 1997-2000 for the Maroon and White. Richmond head mentor Sue Murphy played for UMass from 1987-90 guiding the Minutewomen to two ECAC runner-up finishes (1987, 1988). Murphy had a stand-out career as she ranks second in career goals (125), fourth in career assists (57) and third in career points (182).
Four Sign Early NLI's
• Holly Drown (Nashua, N.H.), Kaytlin McCormick (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), Julie Pasquantonio (Plainville, Mass.), and Jamie Whiteway (Billerica, Mass.) have all signed National Letters of Intent to play women's lacrosse at the UMass.
• The quartet is highlighted by two high school All-Americans in McCormick and Drown.
• An honorable mention All-American selection, Drown joins her sister, assistant coach Tracey Drown, at UMass. Drown was the 2004 New Hampshire Telegraph Player of the Year and a two-year All-New Hampshire selection. The midfielder will even take on a familiar number when she suits up for the Maroon and White wearing number 22 which was last worn by her sister.
• McCormick, an All-American selection in both her prep field hockey and lacrosse careers, will also compliment the UMass corps of midfielders. The senior at Saratoga Springs High School led the Blue Streaks to its first New York Section II title since 1994 this season. As a junior, she posted 66 goals leading her team to the section finals.
• Pasquantonio, who was also recruited by Syracuse, was the Hockomock League Player of the Year. She led King Philip Regional High School last season with a conference-best 86 points after moving into the midfield from the defensive back. Her play as a junior guided King Philip to a league title and a trip to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association South sectional quarterfinals.
• Joining Pasquantonio from the MassElite club team is Whiteway who was the Merrimack Valley Player of the Year as a goalkeeper. A two-time Lower New England selection and member of the Massachusetts Elite team, Whiteway was also the team captain of the cross country team and a member of the indoor track team. Her quickness in goal is enhanced by her black belt in Kung Fu - the highest level of the martial art form.