University of Massachusets Athletics
Womens Lax Looking To Capture Regular Season Title
April 15, 2010 | Women's Lacrosse
April 15, 2010
The UMass women's lacrosse team will host Saint Joseph's and La Salle this weekend at McGuirk Stadium to finish up the Atlantic 10 regular season. The Minutewomen face Saint Joseph's Friday at 5 PM and La Salle on Sunday at 1 PM. The La Salle game will be the last home game of the season and serve as Senior Day for the Minutewomen. UMass is currently ranked first in the Atlantic 10 with a 4-1 record. Saint Joseph's is 2-12 on the year and 0-5 in the A-10. LaSalle is 7-5 on the year and have a 3-2 A-10 record.
The Series
• The Minutewomen lead the series against Saint Joseph's 15-2 of all time. Last season the teams met twice, once in regular season play and again in the A-10 Championship. During regular season, UMass came away with a 10-8 win and in the post season the Minutewomen came out on top after two overtimes (15-14) to earn their spot in the NCAA tournament.
• UMass dominates in the all time series again La Salle with an 11-0 record. Last season the Minutewomen defeated LaSalle 17-2.
Last Time Out: UMass Had a Key A-10 Win Over St. Bonaventure (11-6)
• The Minutewomen tallied their fourth Atlantic 10 win over the weekend, defeating St. Bonaventure.
• Danielle Pelletier scored a game-high four goals while Jackie Lyons tallied seven points having three goals and four assists.
• Merritt Cosgrove, Jesse O'Donnell, and Nina Sarcona each contributed one goal to the Minutewomen's eleven.
• Katie Florence was strong in net for the UMass recording seven saves.
• The win over St. Bonaventure gave the Minutewomen a 4-1 record in the Atlantic 10 conference which will prove to be key in UMass' conference tournament position.
Next Up: Atlantic 10 Tournament
• Sunday's game against La Salle will mark the end of UMass' Atlantic 10 Regular Season. The Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament begins play Friday, April 23 at Rooney Field. The tournament is hosted by Duquesne University in Pittsburgh PA. The championship game will take place at 3 PM on Sunday, April 25.
Scouting UMass
• Jackie Lyons and Jesse O'Donnell lead the Minutewomen offensively throughout the season. Lyons leads the team in points with 29 goals and 15 assists, while O'Donnell has recorded 32 goals and four assists. O'Donnell has posted a point in every game this season, while Lyons has had a point in every game but one.
• Katie Florence stands strong in net for the Minutewomen with 104 saves and a .439 save percentage.
• After 14 games UMass averages 10.5 goals a game and has a .431 shooting percentage.
In The A-10
• UMass is tied for third with Temple for goals per game with 62 total and an average of 12.4 per game.
• The Minutewomen are ranked second for assists per game with a total of 28 and an average of 5.6 a game.
• UMass stands in second place for points per game, averaging 18 a game with a total of 90.
• The Minutewomen also stand in second place for draw controls in the A-10 recording 71 on the year.
• Jackie Lyons leads the A-10 in assists, points per game, and game winning goals. Lyons has recorded an average of two assists (10 total) per game, has a total of 25 points for the season, and has recorded two game winning goals. Lyons is also currently tied for third place in goals per game recording 15 total and averaging three a game.
• Nina Sarcona is ranked fourth for assists per game recording a total of eight.
• Merritt Cosgrove is tied in second place for draw controls in the A-10 with 18.
• Dayna Defliese is ranked fourth for caused turnovers with 7.
• Katie Florence is ranked second in the Atlantic 10 for save percentage (.518) and ranked fifth for saves per game with 43.
Venechanos' Atlantic 10 Success
• Since starting at UMass in 2007 head coach Alexis Venechanos has continually improved the team's Atlantic 10 record. In her first season the Minutewomen went 3-4 in A-10 (5th Place) and were unable to make the tournament. In 2008 Venechanos rallied her team to a 4-3 record in A-10 season play and guided her team to the Championship Game (1-1). 2009 proved to be the Minutewomen's best season with Venechanos winning the Atlantic 10 Regular Season title (6-1), and the A-10 Tournament title (2-0). The Minutewomen went on to face Northwestern in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but lost to the defending National Champions. This was UMass' first NCAA berth in 25 years.
• Since joining the UMass women's lacrosse team Venechanos has an overall record of 34-35, Atlantic 10 regular season record of 18-9, and an A-10 Tournament record of 3-1.
Pelletier, Sarcona Net 1st Career Hat Tricks
• Danielle Pelletier scored her first career hat trick in the 18-8 win at UConn. Pelletier scored a career high four goals and added an assist in the win.
• Nina Sarcona posted her first career hat trick on March 10 in the 9-5 win over Yale doing so on just three shots.
• Sarcona earned her second career hat trick on March 28 in a 12-8 win over Richmond. Both of Sarcona's hat tricks have been off three shots, finding the back of the net every time.
Road, Sweet Road
• The Minutewomen have a 4-2 record on the road, winning their first three Atlantic 10 games on the road.
• The road stand is for six consecutive games, lasting 28 days.
• The Minutewomen finally return home against St. Bonaventure for their first game at McGuirk Stadium in 31 days.
Florence One Of The Top Goalies In A-10
• Sophomore goalie Katie Florence has been one of the top goalies in the Atlantic 10 this season. Three times this year, Florence has been named the A-10 Defensive Player of the Week.
• Against Temple, Florence allowed only seven goals while making 10 saves, picking up three groundballs and causing one turnover.
• Florence helped lead UMass to wins over Richmond and George Washington the previous weekend, combined only allowing 15 goals while making 17 saves.
• For her career, Florence is now 17-13 overall with a 9.76 goals against average and a .422 save percentage. She has allowed 10-or-fewer goals 16 times in her two years.
• As a freshman in 2009, Katie Florence established herself as one of the up-and-coming goalies in the country and one of the best in the Atlantic 10. She finished the year with 11.43 goals against average and a .462 save percentage along with an 11-8-0 record. She started all 20 games playing nearly 1,200 minutes in cage.
Lucky Goal Eleven
• The UMass women's lacrosse team has won every game when they have scored more than 10 goals. Once the Minutewomen reach goal number 10 they must be reminded of the two games they lost 8-10 and gain extra motivation to keep pushing and rallying.
Lyons Earns Her Spot On Top-10 Program Marks
• Jackie Lyons has added her name to the UMass top-10 career assists lists. Lyons reached the mark after recording a total of three assists against George Washington and Richmond. With the addition of four assists against St. Bonaventure Lyons has moved up for sixth all-time at UMass for career assists.
• The seven points Lyons recorded during the St. Bonaventure game give her 128 for her career which moves her into 10th all-time career points.
• Lyons is closing in on reaching the mark for top 10 career goals; she needs only 14 more to make the list.
• After a break-out sophomore season, junior Jackie Lyons is one of the top returning players for the Minutewomen. In 2009, she nearly set the school's single-season record for points with 71 on 44 goals and 27 assists. She also had seven game-winning goals.
• For her career, she has played in 46 career games with 103 points (67 goals, 36 assists).
• This past summer, Lyons earned a spot on the U.S. Developmental Team roster and has been training with some of the nation's top lacrosse players through the offseason and preseason schedule.
Houlis Gets Third Career Multi-Goal Game
• In the loss at Stony Brook, defender Ali Houlis netted her second career multi-goal game scoring two of UMass six goals. Houlis had a pair of goals in 2009 in the 17-2 win at La Salle as a freshman.
• In UMass' win over George Washington Houlis recorded two goals.
Trio Earns A-10 Awards
• Following the wins against Holy Cross and Connecticut, Jesse O'Donnell, Lauren Terracciano and Katie Florence each earned weekly honors from the Atlantic 10. O'Donnell was named the Performer of the Week, Terracciano was tabbed the Rookie of the Week, and Florence was selected as the Defensive Player of the Week.
COSGROVE, WALKER GO INTERNATIONAL
• Senior Merritt Cosgrove and associate head coach Acacia Walker each spent time abroad over the summer in the FIL World Cup held in Prague. Cosgrove played for Team Ireland along with former teammate Jackie Rosenzweig, while Walker played for Gold medalist Team USA. Cosgrove and Rosenzweig helped the Irish to a fifth-place finish in their first FIL World Cup competition.
SMITH ADDS SCORING PUNCH
• One of the big surprises last season was the emergence of Haley Smith on attack. Smith finished the year with 33 goals and 5 assists as the third leading scorer for UMass. As a freshman in 2008, she tallied two goals and four assists in 18 games.
BIG SHOES TO FILL
• Although only losing three starters, all seniors, from last season's squad, Alexis Venechanos will need to find some players to fill the voids left by the key trio of Holly Drown, Meghan Reddy and Jackie Rosenzweig.
• Reddy and Drown were the second and fourth leading scorers on the team, respectively. Reddy notched 35 goals and 11 assists to go with a school-record 78 draw controls. Twice she had 12 draw controls in a game which is among the best in NCAA history. Drown had 30 goals and 5 assists along with 44 draw controls and 22 groundballs - second most on the team in both.
• Rosenzweig started every game of her career and was one of the best defensive players ever at UMass. She finished her career with 84 caused turnovers and 100 groundballs and was a first-team All-Atlantic 10 selection in 2009.
WHAT A SEASON 2009 WAS
• It was a magical finish to 2009 as the Minutewomen won eight of their final nine games to make the first NCAA Tournament since 1984. UMass tied a school record for wins in A-10 play (6-1) and posted the most overall wins (11) since 2003. With 204 goals scored, UMass set a new single-season team scoring record as well as a new team record for draw controls (258). The 269 points were also the second best mark in school history.
Streaming Video
• Can't make a home game? Have friends and family back home who want to keep up with the Minutewomen? Sign up for the UMass All-Access Package and you can watch every home game live on the Internet. Along with live games, fans can check out interviews with the coaches and players, news highlights, and feature stories on the team.
Order UMass Action Photos
• UMass is pleased to offer fans the chance to purchase action photos from all women's lacrosse photo galleries that are posted on UMassAthletics.com. When viewing the photo gallery, simply click the "Buy Now" tab to order the photo from Replay Photos. You can even choose custom sizes, frames and other options. These make great birthday, holiday or graduation gifts and are perfect for and UMass fan!
Sign Up For The UMass Lacrosse E-mail List
• Want to get all the latest information on the women's lacrosse team delivered straight to your E-Mail Inbox? Sign up for the UMass Women's Lacrosse E-Mail List and you will received game previews, recaps and feature stories delivered straight to you.
• To sign up, send an e-mail with the subject line "Sign Up For Women's Lacrosse E-Mail List" to jsinnett@admin.umass.edu
