University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Lacrosse Announces 2007 Schedule
December 20, 2006 | Women's Lacrosse
Dec. 20, 2006
AMHERST, Mass. - A tough non-conference schedule, four home Atlantic 10 games, and a game against two-time defending National Champion Northwestern highlight the UMass women's lacrosse 2007 schedule as announced by first-year head coach Alexis Venechanos on Wednesday. The Minutewomen open the 17-game regular season on Feb. 21 at Holy Cross. The game against Northwestern will take place in Venechanos' hometown of Yorktown, N.Y., and proceeds will benefit the Friends of Jaclyn Murphy Foundation. UMass will get a boost on its preseason training as the Minutewomen, who celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 1982 National Championship, take part in the Champions Challenge on the weekend of Jan. 27-28 facing the U.S. Elite and Developmental teams at Disney's Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
"We have a very competitive schedule for the upcoming season and I feel our team is up to that challenge," said Venechanos. "Facing five NCAA Tournament teams including both Championship finalists will be a litmus test early. We will certainly gain an edge with our training trip and exhibition games in Florida which I think will help the team gel and prepare for the season."
The Minutewomen will host six home games this season beginning March 7 against Dartmouth. All home games will now be played in McGuirk Alumni Stadium, weather permitting, marking the first time ever that women's lacrosse has been played in the facility. All home games will feature live streaming video for free and live stats.
UMass, along with Northwestern, will take place in the Champions Challenge in Florida. The tournament will pit both teams against the two U.S. teams on Sunday, Jan. 28 and celebrates the first NCAA Champion in UMass and the most recent in Northwestern. The Minutewomen will head to the Sunshine State on Jan. 21 to kick-off their preseason training trip.
Almost a month later, UMass opens the non-conference slate at Holy Cross on Feb. 21. The Crusaders are led by former UMass standout Stephanie (Pavlick) Ridolfi and are coming off a Patriot League Championship and NCAA Tournament berth a year ago.
UMass will then face Boston University, two-time defending America East Champions, at Nickerson Field in the Terriers' season-opener on Feb. 24. BU has made the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons. UMass' last All-American, Tracey Drown, was named assistant coach there this past summer after serving two seasons in a similar position for her alma mater.
Road trips to Vermont (2/28) and Harvard (3/3) will wrap up the Minutewomen's opening non-conference swing.
National Finalist Dartmouth will come to McGuirk Stadium on March 7 to open the home schedule. The Big Green fell to Northwestern last season 11-10 in overtime in the National Championship game.
After a road trip to New Hampshire (3/20), UMass will face Northwestern at Yorktown High School in the Friends of Jaclyn Game on March 23. The Friends of Jaclyn Foundation was inspired by Jaclyn Murphy, an 11-year old, who was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a malignant brian tumor, in 2004. Venechanos became close to Jaclyn while at Northwestern. The meeting in Venechanos' hometown will be a benefit game for the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation.
"It will be very special for us to play Northwestern to benefit Jaclyn who is such a special person," said Venechanos. "She is such an inspiration to all around her and it is an honor to be able to do something to help her. Playing the game in my hometown and at my high school will be a unique opportunity, but the ultimate joy will be in helping Jaclyn and her family."
Following the Northwestern game, UMass will finish its non-conference schedule at Boston College (3/25) and Yale (3/28).
The A-10 schedule gets underway at Temple on April 6 at Geasey Field - site of this season's Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament.
"The conference season is always tough as there are a number of highly talented teams in the A-10," said Venechanos. "This is a very talented league and we are hoping that playing on the road a lot against high-quality non-conference opponents will prepare us for that."
UMass will then return to McGuirk to face George Washington (4/8) and defending A-10 Champions Richmond who earned the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament last season. The Spiders are also led by a UMass alum in Sue Murphy ('90) who was a two-time All-American and is the third ranked all-time scorer in program history.
The Minutewomen head to Duquesne (4/20) and St. Bonaventure (4/22) for their final road trip of the year.
Saint Joseph's (4/27) and La Salle (4/29) visit McGuirk for the final two home games of the season.
The stretch run could be key for UMass as the Minutewomen host four of their final six games at home.
The Atlantic 10 Tournament will run from May 4-6 and only the top-four teams in the league will qualify. The A-10 Champion will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
The Minutewomen return 17 letterwinners for the 2007 campaign including almost 80 percent of its offensive scoring. Junior Kathleen Typadis (Medfield, Mass.) is the top returning scorer after having a banner year in 2006 where she tallied 43 goals - the fifth-best single season effort in school history. For her efforts, she was named to the IWLCA All-Region Team, the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Team, and the Atlantic 10 All-Tournament Team.
Seniors Samantha Sepulveda (Freeport, N.Y.) and Erica Shapiro (Norfolk, Mass.) have been named captains for the season and look to lead UMass' most experienced team in four years back to the A-10 Tournament.
Venechanos enters her first season at UMass after helping Northwestern to back-to-back National Championships as an assistant coach. She was also a standout goalie at Maryland where she won two national titles as a player.
UMass is looking to build upon its strong finish from last season where the Minutewomen won four of their final six regular season games and qualified for the A-10 Conference Tournament.