SHU Takes On Preseason Favorite Monmouth Friday Afternoon
3/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
March 29, 2007
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Sacred Heart Pioneers (3-4, 1-1 NEC) vs. Monmouth Hawks (7-3, 2-0 NEC)
Friday, March 30, 2007 - 4:00 pm - West Long Branch, New Jersey - Kessler Field
Pioneers Take On Monmouth... The Pioneer women's lacrosse team returns to Northeast Conference action Friday afternoon when they travel to Monmouth University. The Hawks, the 2007 coaches' preseason favorite and defending conference champs, are off to a 2-0 NEC start after wins at Central Connecticut and Wagner last weekend. Sacred Heart is 1-1 after beating Long Island but falling to Robert Morris. SHU is coming off a 12-11 overtime win at Lafayette on Tuesday afternoon.
The Series... Monmouth leads the all-time series, 10-1. The Hawks beat the Pioneers twice last season and have won four straight in the series. MU won 15-8 in Fairfield and then beat SHU in the 10-5 at home in the Northeast Conference Championship game. The Hawks won the first meeting, 15-11, in 1997 and then rattled off six-straight in the series before SHU collected their only win in 2003, a 15-13 win at home.
Up Next... Sacred Heart will travel down to Maryland to take on Mount St. Mary's on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm before returning home to host Wagner on Thursday.
Last Time Out... Sacred Heart junior Katie Salamone scored the game-winner with 1:55 left on the clock to send the Pioneers home with a 12-11 overtime win at Lafayette Tuesday afternoon. Senior Brianna Bubeck posted big numbers once again to lead the SHU offense, scoring four goals as the Pioneers pick up their second-straight win and improve to 3-4 on the season. Tuesday's back-and-forth game featured six ties and two lead changes late to send the Pioneers to their second overtime game of the season. Trailing 11-10 with eight minutes to go, Leopard junior Maddy Booth connected with Kelley Dodds to knot the score at 11-all and give the junior her first career hat trick. The teams played through the final 7:47 scoreless, while the Lafayette defense locked down on a single Sacred Heart possession in the final 1:30-plus of regulation to force overtime. Neither team scored in the first half of the six-minute overtime period, but after Salamone's game-winner at 1:55, the Pioneers proceeded to win the draw and hold possession for the remainder of the game. In addition to Bubeck's four goal afternoon, sophomore Mary Montesarchio scored a pair and assisted on another. Freshman Carissa Hauser scored twice while sophomore Meghan McCaffrey netted a marker and set up two others. In goal, freshman Chelsea Wagner made a career-high 15 saves to earn the victory.
Scouting the Hawks... The Monmouth Hawks are 7-3 overall and welcome the Pioneers after beating Central Connecticut and Wagner last weekend by matching 18-10 scores. The Hawks are the NEC's top-offensive team averaging 14.42 goals per game on 35.7 shots per game. Katie Degen and Carolyn Raveia are the team's and NEC's top scorers. Degen has 37 goals and 17 assists on the year for 54 points. Raveia has scored 36 goals with seven assists for 43 points. Monica Johnson sports a 10.82 goals against average with 121 saves.
Bubeck Named NEC Player of the Week... SHU senior Brianna Bubeck earned the Northeast Conference Player of the Week and SHU / Enterprise Rent-A-Car Student-Athlete of the Week awards. In last Friday's win over LIU, Bubeck led the offensive charge with four goals and an assist in the win, registering her 100th career point. In addition, she collected seven draw controls, four ground balls and caused two turnovers. In Sunday's loss, she matched her career high by scoring five goals against Robert Morris.
SHU Among the Nation's Stat Leaders... The Sacred Heart Pioneers are currently tied for 6th in this week's NCAA rankings in caused turnovers per game. The Pioneers are averaging 10.57 caused turnovers per game. American and Quinnipiac lead the nation at 14.00 per game. SHU is tied for 13th with California in draw controls per game at 13.83. Boston College leads the country at 16.75 per game. Senior Brianna Bubeck is 5th in the country in draw wins at 29 (4.83 per game). Bubeck is tied for 11th in goals per game (3.33) and 26th for points per game (4.17). Senior Maureen Hohn is 3rd in the country at 2.67 caused turnovers per game (16).
Pioneers in the NEC Stat Rankings... The Pioneers are among the conference leaders offensively and defensively. SHU is 2nd in the NEC in goals per game (11.29) and 3rd in points per game (15.57). SHU is 5th in the league in assists (4.29), 2nd in shots per game (26.43) and shot percentage (.427). Defensively, the Pioneers ranked 2nd in caused turnovers (10.57) and 4th in goals against (11.41). Senior Brianna Bubeck is 3rd in the NEC in goals per game (3.43) and points per game (4.14). She is 2nd in shots per game (7.57).
History... This is the Pioneer's ninth year of competition in the Northeast Conference. Sacred Heart has qualified for the NEC Tournament five times and posts a 84-68 Division I record. The Pioneers have posted 10 wins three times and have not had a losing season since 1998.
