SHU Heads to Central Connecticut Sunday Afternoon
4/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
April 20, 2007
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Sacred Heart Pioneers (6-7, 4-3 NEC) vs. Central Connecitcut Blue Devils (3-10, 1-5 NEC)
Sunday, April 22, 2007 - 1:00 pm - New Britain, Connecticut - Jack Arute Field
SHU Closes the Regular Season at CCSU... The Sacred Heart Pioneers close out the 2007 regular season on Sunday afternoon at Central Connecticut. The Pioneers are coming off a 2-0 weekend with wins over Quinnipiac and St. Francis (PA) to stay in the Northeast Conference playoff hunt. The Pioneers are in fourth place heading into the weekend with a 4-3 league mark, a game behind Quinnipiac in 3rd (5-2) and a half game in front of Robert Morris (3-3) in 5th. A win over the Blue Devils coupled with a RMU loss to either first place Mount St. Mary's or Wagner will clinch the Pioneers a playoff spot for the second straight year.
The Series... Sacred Heart leads the all-time series, 7-0. The Pioneers have won every meeting since the 2000 season, four at home and three in New Britain. The Pioneers posted a 19-10 win last season at home.
Up Next... The regular season is over. The Pioneer remain in contention for one of the two remaining playoff spots heading into the CCSU game. The NEC Tournament will take place on Friday, April 27th and Sunday, April 29th at top-seeded Mount St. Mary's.
Last Meeting with Central CT State... 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 on April 28th last season. 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.
Scouting the Blue Devils... The Central Connecticut women's lacrosse team is 1-5 in Northeast Conference play coming in to Sunday's game. The Blue Devils will face Howard on Wednesday, April 18th. CCSU is led by a pair of 20 goal scorers in Abby Hayes and Julia Steier. Hayes leads the team with 27 goals and seven assists while Steier has 21 scores with seven helpers on the year. Alice Lee has seen the majority of time in goal with an 11.08 goals against average and 166 saves.
Pioneer Offense Has Four 20 Goal Scorers... The Sacred Heart attack is being led by four players with 20+ goals scored this season. Senior Brianna Bubeck leads all players with 36 goals, 15 assists and 51 points, all career highs. Juniors Liz Ottey and Katie Salamone have 21 and 20 goals each while newcomer, freshman Carissa Hauser has piled up 23 markers on the year.
Pioneers Roll Over SFPA, 22-3... Sacred Heart piled up a season-best 22 goals in the win over St. Francis-PA on Sunday. Senior Tara Gebbia scored her first career goal in the win and didn't stop there adding three more in the game. Freshmen Farra Copploa and Marjory Jones recorded their first career goals.
SHU Among the Nation's Stat Leaders... Senior Brianna Bubeck is 5th in the country in draw wins and tied for 27th in points per game and 30th in goals per game. Freshman Chelsea Wagner is 22nd in the nation in save percentage with her 17 saves against Monmouth ranking 18th for the most saves in a game by a player this season. Senior Maureen Hohn is tied for 27th in caused turnovers per game. The Pioneer offense is tied for 30th in goals per game and 14th in draw controls per game. SHU is 27th in caused turnovers per outing.
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 (11.69) and shots per game (29.00) and 3rd in points per game (16.85). Defensively, the Pioneers ranked 4th in caused turnovers (9.54) and 4th in goals against (11.21). Senior Brianna Bubeck is tied for 4th in the NEC in goals per game (2.77) and 2nd in points per game (3.92). She is 4th in shots per game (7.15).
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 87-71 Division I record. The Pioneers have posted 10 wins three times and have not had a losing season since 1998.
