University of Massachusets Athletics
WILDCAT WEEK: No. 20 UMass Faces New Hampshire, No. 2 Northwestern This Week
March 20, 2007 | Women's Lacrosse
March 20, 2007
#20 UMass (4-2) at New Hampshire (2-3)
Tuesday, March 20, 2007 • 3 P.M. (ET)
Memorial Field (300) • Durham, N.H.
Live Stats: UMassAthletics.com
Streaming Video: None
#20 UMass (4-2) Vs. #2/2 Northwestern (3-1)
Friends Of Jaclyn Murphy Benefit Game
Friday, March 23, 2007 • 7 P.M. (ET)
Yorktown High School • Yorktown, N.Y.
GameTracker: UMassAthletics.com
Streaming Video: None
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On The Road Again: UMass Squares Off With A Pair Of Wildcats
• The Minutewomen head out on the road once again, this time for five straight games, beginning March 20 when they head up to New Hampshire. Three days later, UMass will `host' No. 2 Northwestern in Yorktown, N.Y., to benefit the Friends of Jaclyn Murphy Foundation. UMass will play four games in eight days before getting a few days rest in time to go to Temple on April 6.
• In Monday's edition of the IWLCA Top-20 Coaches' Poll, UMass received its first national ranking, No. 20, since 1999. The Minutewomen, however, were not listed in the InsideLacrosse.com Top-20 Media Poll for the first time since beating Boston University.
• UMass is 14-20-2 all-time versus New Hampshire in one of the longest running series in program history. The Minutewomen will face Northwestern for the first time since 1989 and are 1-4 all-time against the Wildcats.
Friend's Of Jaclyn Murphy Foundation
• On March 23, UMass will face No. 2 Northwestern in a game to benefit more than just the sport of women's lacrosse. The game will be held in Yorktown, N.Y., at Yorktown High School and monies raised from ticket sales for the game and a banquet held on Thursday night will go to the Friends Of Jaclyn Murphy Foundation. The Foundation is a charitable organization when works to help defer to the cost of treatment for children who suffer from brain tumors. At the heart of all this is Jaclyn Murphy, a 12-year old, who has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.
• Murphy became involved with the Northwestern women's lacrosse program two years ago with head coach Alexis Venechanos who is a native of Yorktown and played her prep lacrosse at the high school. Murphy was a part of the Wildcat family for their two National Championship runs and now that Venechanos is in Amherst, she is a part of the UMass lacrosse family.
• Complete information on the Friends Of Jaclyn Murphy Foundation can be found at www.friendsofjaclyn.org. Tickets for Friday night's game and information on Thursday night's banquet in Yorktown can be found at www.womenslax.com. Contact Ashley Gersuk for more information at agersuk@womenslax.com.
Scouting UMass
• UMass is led offensively by the trio of Kathleen Typadis, Holly Drown, and Melynda Zwick. Typadis leads the team with 24 points and 19 goals. Drown is just behind her with 20 points on 16 goals, while Zwick has 17 points and 12 goals.
• Defensively, UMass has been very sound thanks to Julie Papaleo, Jackie Rosenzweig and Ashley King. In goal, Lauren McCarthy has been very sound this year allowing just 8.36 goals per game while making 40 saves.
• Midfield transition has been a big key to UMass' success as the Minutewomen are able to clear the ball 89 percent of the time compared to just 60 percent for opponents.
First National Ranking Since 1999
• After starting the season with a 4-2 record, the UMass women's lacrosse team earned a No. 20 ranking from the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association in its weekly poll which was released on Monday. This marks the first time since 1999 that the team has received a national ranking. Under new head coach Alexis Venechanos, the Minutewomen have had a historic start to their season with a win over a ranked team for the first time since 2000, the program's first-ever game in McGuirk Stadium, and now a national ranking.
• The last time UMass was ranked was the 1999 season as the Minutewomen were ranked 20th in the preseason and the IWLCA's first poll of the year (March 8).
• In 1988 UMass was ranked as high as ninth in the April 17 poll. That season, UMass was ranked three other times at No. 13 (April 10, April 24, and May 1).
• UMass joins No. 14 Richmond as the only two A-10 teams ranked in the poll.
• Earlier this season, the Minutewomen defeated then No. 16 Boston University who is now listed as Others Receiving Votes. Four other opponents on the 2007 schedule are listed in this week's poll: No. 2 Northwestern, No. 9 Dartmouth, No. 14 Richmond, and No. 18 Yale.
• For much of the season, UMass has been receiving votes in both the IWLCA Coaches' Poll and the InsideLacrosse.com Media Poll.
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Fun Facts...
• UMass is ranked 20th nationally by the IWLCA Top-20 Coaches' Poll. This is the first time UMass has been ranked since the 1999 season. The Minutewomen have been receiving votes in both the IWLCA poll and the InsideLacrosse.com Top-20 Media Poll for much of the season. • Alexis Venechanos took over as the UMass head coach in late August 2006. She has been a part of four of the last seven NCAA Championships - including the last two as an Assistant Coach at Northwestern. • Kathleen Typadis enters the New Hampshire game with a 30-game scoring streak in place. She needs two goals to move into seventh all-time at UMass. • Typadis ranks fourth all-time in draw controls at UMass with 68 for her career. She is joined on the list by Samantha Sepulveda (5th, 62) and Holly Drown (10th, 43). • Julie Papaleo ranks 10th all-time in career caused turnovers with 29. Jackie Rosenzweig and Erica Shapiro are closing in on the top-10 with 25 and 24 CT's respectively. • Lauren McCarthy ranks fourth all-time in career saves with 352 and needs 55 more saves for third place. • The win over No. 16 ranked Boston Univ. was the program's first since beating No. 19 Temple in 2000.
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Typadis Earns A-10 Honors (3/12)
• For the reporting period of Feb. 25-March 11, Kathleen Typadis was named the A-10's Co-Performer of the Week. She scored 14 goals and handed out four assists in that stretch as UMass posted a 3-1 record.
• This is her third career Performer of the Week honor and fourth league weekly honor overall. She becomes the first Minutewoman since UMass joined the A-10 in 1999 to earn three Performer of the Week honors in a career.
• Typadis shared the weekly honor with Richmond goalkeeper Jackie Swansburg.
Recapping The Albany Game
• Kathleen Typadis poured in a career-high six goals to lead UMass to a 15-7 win over Albany (3/10) in the first-ever women's lacrosse game at McGuirk Stadium. Typadis also recorded an assist today giving her a career-high seven points. Melynda Zwick scored four goals as did sophomore Holly Drown to lead the Minutewomen who are a perfect 6-0 all-time against the Great Danes.
• The Minutewomen had a season-best 10 assists in the game which is their best single-game total since registering 10 against Albany during the 2004 season. Typadis' six goals are the most for any UMass player since Kerri Connerty scored six against the Great Danes in 2005.
• Albany (1-4) was led by Sarah Spillett who scored twice and added an assist. Kayla Best also scored twice for the Great Danes.
• Kristina Twichell led the Minutewomen with three assists on the day. Claire Mancini drew her first career start responding with a career-high two assists.
• UMass outshot Albany 30-to-20 and disrupted the Great Danes midfield game holding them to just eight clears on 18 attempts. UMass was 11-for-12 in the game.
• Lauren McCarthy made nine saves to pick up the win, while Albany keeper Jen Daly also made nine saves in the loss.
Best Start Since 2003
• At 4-2, UMass is off to its best start since the 2003 season where they also started 4-2 en route to an A-10 Championship Game appearance and a berth into the ECAC Championships.
• UMass also started 4-2 in the 2002 season.
• In 1986, the Minutewomen started 6-0, while the 1982 National Championship squad was a perfect 10-0 for the entire season.
UMass Gets First Win Over Ranked Opponent Since 2000
• The Minutewomen ended a seven-year hard luck streak against ranked opponents earlier this season with their win over No. 16 Boston University.
• The last time UMass defeated a ranked opponent was in 2000 when the Minutewomen defeated No. 19 Temple twice - including the epic 3-2 overtime A-10 Championship game win.
Typadis Is Still Streaking
• Junior Kathleen Typadis continues her 30-game scoring streak after a career-high six goals against Albany (3/10). The last game she did not score in was back on April 10, 2005 against Saint Joseph's.
• She has also started 41 consecutive games highlighted by 31 multi-point games, 32 multi-goal games, and 17 hat tricks.
• Of those 41 career games, Typadis has been held scoreless just three times.
Showing Improvement!
• Even though its just six games into the season, UMass is showing improvement over last season with its veteran line-up.
• Offensively, UMass is scoring 11.7 goals per game, shooting over 40 percent, and averaging 28 shots per game compared to 9.5 goals, 38.6 percent shooting and 24.8 shots per game last season.
• Defensively, the Minutewomen are holding opponents to just 8.5 goals, 41 percent shooting and 20.5 shots per game compared to 11.8 goals, 39.2 percent shooting, and 30.2 shots per game.
• Two of the greatest individual improvements from last season has been the play of senior goalkeeper Lauren McCarthy and sophomore midfielder Holly Drown.
• McCarthy has dropped her goals against average from 12.00 to 8.36.
• Drown has already surpassed her total goals from last season (8) with 16 and points (8) with 20 this season. In 2006 she had 20 draw controls. She has 23 this season now ranks 10th all-time at UMass with 43 career DC's.
Happy Birthday Erica & KJ
• Two Minutewomen will celebrate their birthday's this week. Erica Shapiro's big day is on Tuesday as UMass takes on New Hampshire, while Kaitlyn Johnson celebrates on Sunday at Boston College.
Hats Off To You!
• So far this season, four Miniutewomen have recorded hat tricks. Both Kathleen Typadis and Holly Drown have each posted four hat tricks to lead the team, while Melynda Zwick has two and Meghan Reddy has one.
Offensive Odds & Ends
• 11 different Minutewomen have recorded at least a point this season ... of those, Holly Drown, Melynda Zwick, Claire Mancini, Julie Pasquantonio, Julie Papaleo, and Erica Shapiro have all equalled or bettered their offensive totals from 2006.
• Drown, Kathleen Typadis and Zwick are the only players to score in each game this season.
• UMass holds a nearly 2:1 ratio of both goals and shots over their opponents in the first half of games this season ... the Minutewomen are outshooting opponents 99-to-56 and outscoring them 39-to-21.
Among the Atlantic 10
• Several Minutewomen rank among the leaders in the league statistically.
• Kathleen Typadis ranks fourth in goals per game (3.17), 9th in assists per game (0.83), fourth in points per game (4.00), and fifth in free position goals (0.83).
• Holly Drown leads the league in draw controls (3.83), is 8th in goals per game (2.67), and eighth in points per game (3.33).
• Kristina Twichell and Melynda Zwick each rank among the league's assist leaders. Twichell ranks fourth overall (1.00), while Zwick ranks ninth (0.83).
• Lauren McCarthy ranks second in goals against average (8.36), third in save percentage (.460), and seventh in saves per game (6.67).
The Iron Women Of UMass
• Jackie Rosenzweig and Kathleen Typadis are the only two current Minutewomen to started every game of their career.
• Typadis leads the way with 41 consecutive starts, while Rosenzweig has earned the nod 24 straight games.
• Senior Samantha Sepulveda is the teams active leader in games played with 55 followed by fellow senior Lauren McCarthy's 46 career games.
• Sophomore Holly Drown has started all 22 games of her career, but only the last 16 consecutive after missing two her freshman season.
Making An Impression
• Freshman Stephanie Hopkins is making a name for herself having scored at least a point in five of her first six collegiate games. She scored a goal in each of the first three games of the season before having two goals and an assist at Harvard (3/3).
• Freshmen Ashley King and Merritt Cosgrove have also been instrumental in the season's opening success. King has started every game on defense and leads the team in groundballs. Cosgrove has also started every game in the midfield.
Streaks Halt Against Boston Univ.
• With the win over Boston University, UMass ended several significant streaks.
• UMass ended a 22-game home win streak for the Terriers which dated back to the 2004 season.
• UMass ended a four-game losing skid to BU.
• UMass earned its first win against a Top-20 team since defeating No. 19 Temple 3-2 for the A-10 Championship on May 7, 2000.
• UMass snapped a 10-game losing skid against ranked teams.
2007 Shaping Up To Be A Record Year
• Several Minutewomen are looking to etch their names in the UMass record books this spring. Most notable is Kathleen Typadis who will move into the all-time scoring lists for points and goals.
• Typadis moved into 8th-place for career goals with six against Albany (3/10). She needs two more to take over seven all-time. She needs just three points to move into that all-time list. She is also fourth in career draw controls with 68.
• Lauren McCarthy ranks fourth all-time in career saves with 340. If she follows her career average this season, then she will be ranked No. 2 all-time behind Jen Nardi.
• Defender Julie Papaleo ranks 10th all-time in caused turnovers with 29 and needs just three more to movee into eighth-place.
• Defenders Jackie Rosenzweig, and Erica Shapiro are close to making the all-time caused turnovers chart. Rosenzweig had 25, while Shapiro has 24.
• Midfielders Holly Drown, Samantha Sepulveda, and Jeannette Villapiano join Typadis in the draw control category. Sepulveda has 62 draw controls for her career which ranks 5th, while Drown and Villapiano each have 43 which ranks 10th overall.
Freshman Firsts
• Several UMass freshmen made their collegiate debuts at Holy Cross in the season-opener.
• Stephanie Hopkins scored her first career goal and started at attack. Merritt Cosgrove drew her first collegiate start in the midfield, while Ashley King started on defense. King posted two groundballs, while Cosgrove recorded two draw controls in their first games as Minutewomen.
Other First-Time Highlights
• Junior transfer Abbey Cappobianco, junior Alana Jakas, freshman Kaitlyn Johnson, freshman Jill Liposky, freshman Kat Liposky, freshman Lyndsay Ward and sophomore Jamie-Lee Whiteway all saw their first collegiate action at Harvard (3/3).
• Whiteway made her first collegiate save against the Crimson and finished the game with five.
• Sophomore Claire Mancini, junior Julie Papaleo, and junior Julie Pasquantonio each recorded their first career goals at Harvard.
• Mancini made her first career start against Albany (3/10) and promptly recorded two assists in the game - the first helpers of her career.
Coming Back Strong
• The Minutewomen returned nearly 80 percent of their scoring and four of the top five offensive threats for 2007. Defensively, UMass has several experienced players anchored by goalie Lauren McCarthy.
• Nine starters return for UMass as well including junior attack Kathleen Typadis and sophomore midfielder/attack Kaytlin McCormick who led the team in goals and points last season.
• The midfield will be led by senior co-captain Samantha Sepulveda who adds speed in the transition game and is excellent on draw controls.
• All told, UMass returns nine upperclassmen. Four sophomores saw significant game time last season as rookies making this a fairly experienced team.
UMass Tabbed Fourth In A-10 Preseason Coaches Poll
• UMass was picked to finish fourth overall in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll as voted on by league coaches. The Minutewomen are looking to build upon their momentum from a season ago where they won four of their final six regular season games and qualified for the A-10 Conference Tournament.
• Richmond was picked to win the title this season followed by Duquesne and Temple who tied for second. George Washington and St. Bonaventure were picked to finished fifth and sixth, respectively, while La Salle and Saint Joseph's were predicted to finish in a seventh-place tie.
Minutewomen Head To Disney World For Champions Challenge
• UMass got a head start on its preseason training in late January with a trip to Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex to take part in the Champions Challenge hosted by U.S. Lacrosse. The Minutewomen spent the time in the Sunshine State gearing up for the season with two-a-day practice sessions and capped the week with an exhibition against the U.S. Developmental and Elite Teams on Sunday before returning to Amherst.
• The week began on Tuesday, Jan. 23 when the team flew down to officially start the 2007 season. "It was great to be able to practice in the great weather down in Florida," said new head coach Alexis Venechanos. "We had some pretty intense practice sessions, but I think we were able to put in a lot of our concepts and got a good head start on the season."
• The team concluded the trip on Sunday with exhibition games against the U.S. Developmental Team and the U.S. Elite Team.
A New York State Of Mind
• Despite being the flagship school of Massachusetts, the Minutewomen have several team members who hail from the Empire State. New York is the most represented state on this season's roster as eight team members call the state home.
• Head coach Alexis Venechanos is a native of Yorktown as well.
• Stephanie Hopkins, Alana Jakas, Ashley King, Katylin McCormick, Julie Papaleo, Jackie Rosenzweig, Samantha Sepulveda, and Kristina Twichell are all from New York.
Happy 25th Anniversary!
• This is the 25th anniversary that UMass won the first ever NCAA Championship in women's lacrosse. The Minutewomen posted a 10-0 record during the 1982 season and defeated Trenton State for the title.
• During their title run, UMass defeated Boston University (18-0), Harvard (5-3), Dartmouth (13-3), New Hampshire (5-4), and Boston College (10-2).
• The Minutewomen followed their NCAA title with a pair of fourth-place finishes in 1983 and 1984.
No Easy Schedule
• Four of this season's 17 scheduled opponents are ranked in the IWLCA and InsideLacrosse.com Top-20 Polls: Northwestern, Boston University, Dartmouth, and Richmond.
• UMass will face both NCAA Finalist in Northwestern and Dartmouth. Northwestern is the back-to-back defending national champion.
• Five teams on the schedule last season made the NCAA Tournament: Boston University, Dartmouth, Holy Cross, Northwestern and Richmond. BU won the America East, Holy Cross won the Patriot League and Richmond won the A-10 conference titles. New Hampshire fell to BU in the America East Championship game.
• Only six games this season will be at home for UMass. The game against Northwestern will be held in Yorktown, N.Y. and is technically a home game.
UMass Among The A-10
• UMass boasts the second best all-time record in league play among conference members. Temple holds the best record among league rivals at 46-5, while UMass is 32-19.
• UMass finished third in the conference in 2004 and fourth in 2006 with a 4-3 record each year.
• In this the eighth year affiliated with the league, UMass has one regular season title and one tournament title to its name (both in 2000) and has qualified every season but one (2005) for the A-10 Tournament.
Home Games Now At McGuirk Stadium
• The Minutewomen will host five home games this season beginning March 10 against Albany. 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.
• If there is incliment weather on the day of or prior to a scheduled contest, home games may revert back to Garber Field.
10 Sign Early With UMass
• First-year head coach Alexis Venechanos announced today that the University of Massachusetts women's lacrosse team has signed 10 newcomers to National Letters of Intent during the Early Signing Period. This is Venechanos' first recruiting class as head coach of the Minutewomen after coming to Amherst from Northwestern where she helped the Wildcats to back-to-back NCAA Championship titles.
• The Minutewomen will welcome Aimee Dixon (North Andover, Mass.), Lindsay Hagerty (Andover, Mass.), Shanaz Kerr (Milton, Mass.), Jackie Lyons (Rocky Point, N.Y.), Kara Oloskey (Duxbury, Mass.), Kelly Radigan (Fayetteville, N.Y.), Kelsey Schreiner (Sherborn, Mass.), Haley Smith (Ijamsville, Md.), Colleen Speth (Evanston, Ill.), and Courtney Szawlowski (Leeds, Mass.) for the 2008 season.
• "I am thrilled to introduce the Class of 2011 as they are the first class in the New Era of UMass Women's Lacrosse," said Venechanos who has a total of four NCAA Championship titles to her credit (two as a player at Maryland and two at Northwestern. "These 10 student-athletes will bring a strong work ethic on and off the field to the along with speed, athleticism and passion for the game. We have been able to add players that will make an impact in all of the positions of attack, midfield, defense and goaltending. With the strong support from our administration, the continued involvement of our great alumnae, the return of a talented group of veterans and the addition of these 10 gifted student-athletes, the future is very bright for UMass."
• The class is highlighted by three All-Americans (Lyons, Smith, Speth). UMass has brought in a total of eight High School All-Americans in the last three recruiting classes.
Streaming Video
• UMass is pleased to provide streaming video for all home contests for free of charge. This service works best with BroadBand or Cable Internet subscribers. Live stats are also available for all home contests and select away games via GameTracker.
Photo Galleries
• A perfect gift for any die-hard UMass lacrosse fan are photos from UMass home games which you can purchase online! Photos come in your choice of 4x6, 8x10, or 11x14 and can be ordered from the photo galleries at UMassAthletics.com. This is a unique opportunity to capture a part of Minutewomen Lacrosse history!
Sign-up For the E-mail List
• If you would like to receive all the lastest UMass women's lacrosse news straight to your e-mail account, then sign up for our online e-mail list.
• For those who sign up, you will receive game previews, game notes, boxscores, recaps and feature stories delivered right to you.
• To sign up, e-mail assistant director for media relations John Sinnett (jsinnett@admin.umass.edu) with the subject line "Sign Up For Lax Newsletter".
