Pioneers Ready for NEC Tournament Run - Game Notes
5/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
May 4, 2006
Complete Sacred Heart vs. Quinnipiac NEC Tournament Game Notes in PDF Format
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Pioneers Ready for NEC Tournament Run... The Sacred Heart women's lacrosse team closed out the season winning seven of their last eight games to finish 7-1 in the Northeast Conference and earn the #2 seed in the league tournament. Now the Pioneers will ride their hot streak into the playoffs will they will face off with #3 seeded Quinnipiac on Friday afternoon with the winner advancing to the NEC title game on Sunday. Top-seed and host Monmouth will face #4 Mount St. Mary's in the day's first game.
The Series... Sacred Heart leads the all-time series, 8-3. The Pioneers beat Quinnipiac, 12-5, at home on April 21st, snapping a two-game Bobcat winning streak. At one time, SHU owned a five-game winning streak in the series. SHU has lost just once to Quinnipiac at home, in 2004, 12-9. The Pioneers took the initial meeting in 1996.
NEC Tournament History... This is Sacred Heart's fifth trip to the Northeast Conference Tournament but their first as anything other than a #4 seed. The Pioneers are 0-4 in the tournament, losing three times to UMBC and once to Mount St. Mary's. SHU's last appearance came in 2004 when they fell to the Mount, 6-5. In 2002, SHU lost to UMBC 16-4 and in 2000 they fell to the Retrievers 14-8. The Pioneers first tournament trip came in 1999 when they lost to UMBC, 19-6.
Up Next... The winner of today's game moves on to the NEC Championship game on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm.
Last Meeting with Quinnipiac... Junior Brianna Bubeck netted four goals and junior Heather Gureckis contributed two more to help spark a streak of seven unanswered goals in the second half which clinched a 12-5 win over Quinnipiac for the Sacred Heart women's lacrosse squad. The Pioneers, answered to Quinnipiac's first score of the contest when senior Emily Tully tallied her fifteenth goal of the campaign. The Bobcats took a 3-2 lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the half, but Bubeck struck for three consecutive goals in a minute and eleven seconds to give the Pioneers a 5-3 halftime lead. The visiting Bobcats evened the score at five apiece when they received goals from senior Melissa Jordan and freshman Nicole Fiore at 1:08 and 4:27 respectively. At 13:26, sophomore Katie Salamone netted a score on a free position shot and the Pioneers never looked back. Sacred Heart received six other goals following Salamone's from Gureckis, junior Maureen Hohn, and freshman Mary Montesarchio to close out the victory.
Last Time Out... Sacred Heart freshman Mary Montesarchio scored four goals and assisted on three others to lead the Pioneers to a 19-10 win over visiting Central Connecticut to clinch the best Northeast Conference mark in school history at 7-1. In addition to Montesarchio's career-high seven points junior Brianna Bubeck scored four goals and added an assist to her stat totals. Sophomore Elizabeth Ottey notched a goal and assisted on three others while junior Heather Gureckis scored three times in the win. Sacred Heart led at the half 12-4 and put the game away over the first half of the second stanza, outscoring Central 5-2 to put the game out of reach at 17-6. Sacred Heart senior Emily Tully scored a pair of goals in the win while freshmen Meghan McCaffrey and Lauren Fritschi scored their first career goals. Senior Candice Celebre made six saves in earning the win in goal. The Pioneers out shot the Blue Devils 31-20 on the day and won 22 of the 31 draws in the game.
A Return to the NEC Tournament... After a 0-7 start to the 2006 season, the Northeast Conference Tournament seemed miles away for the SHU women's lax teams. But the Pioneers rattled off seven wins in their last eight games to close out the regular season and clinched a spot in the conference tournament.
NEC Records... The 2006 Pioneers have posted their best-ever record in conference play at 7-1. SHU will be the #2 seed in the NEC Tournament, their highest seeding in the playoffs in their five appearances.
Offensive Attack... The Pioneers have three players with 30 or more points and eight with at least 10 points heading into the conference tournament. Junior Brianna Bubeck leads all scorers with 38 points on 30 goals and eight assists. Junior Heather Gureckis and freshman Mary Montesarchio have 33 points apiece. Montesarchio leads the team with 12 assists on the year. Sophomore Liz Ottey has made her first year with the Pioneers memorable with 21 goals and five assists. Ottey transferred from the University of Oregon.
History... This is the Pioneer's eighth year of competition in the Northeast Conference. Sacred Heart has qualified for the NEC Tournament five times and posts a 79-64 Division I record. The Pioneers have posted 10 wins the past three years and have not had a losing season since 1998.
