Pioneers Take on the Mount Saturday Afternoon
3/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
March 21, 2008
Sacred Heart vs. Mount St. Mary's Game Notes in PDF Format 
Sacred Heart Pioneers (3-5, 1-0 NEC) vs. Mt. St. Mary's Mountaineers (4-4, 1-0 NEC)
Game #9 - Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 2:30 pm - Fairfield, Conn. - Campus Field (4,000)
Pioneers Take on the Mount... Sacred Heart got the Northeast Conference portion of the schedule underway in stellar fashion Thursday afternoon, snapping a six-game losing streak to the defending league champion Monmouth Hawks with a 12-9 win. The Pioneers will have little time to celebrate their big win over the preseason co-favorite Hawks as fellow favorite Mount St. Mary's comes calling to Campus Field Saturday afternoon. The Mount picked-up a 14-9 win over Robert Morris in their league opener at home on Thursday as well.
The Series... The Mount leads the all-time series, 9-2. The Mountaineers got back in the win column last year with a 9-5 win at home after Sacred Heart snapped a three-game Mount winning streak in 2006 with an 8-7 win at home. The series dates back to the 1998 season with Mount St. Mary's also winning the only playoff meeting, 6-5, during the 2004 NEC Tournament.
Up Next... The Pioneers close out a four-game homestand on Tuesday taking on the Lafayette Leopards. SHU will then hit the road for four-straight NEC match-ups.
Last Meeting with the Mount... The Pioneers fell behind 5-1 in the first half en route to a 9-5 loss at Mount St. Mary's on April 1, 2007. The win marked the Mountaineers 100th in the program's history. Katie Salamone led the Pioneers with two goals, and Brianna Bubeck, Carissa Hauser, and Liz Ottey also found the twine in the loss. Sacred Heart came out of the intermission to post two-straight markers on 8-meter shots. Mount St. Mary's responded with three-straight tallies to push the lead to 8-4 with 10:44 remaining. The Pioneers made another comeback attempt in the final 10 minutes when Salamone converted an 8-meter shot at 40:01 and Meghan McCaffrey set up Ottey at 54:20, but Casey Paris answered with her first goal of the day with 3:52 remaining for a 9-5 advantage. Chelsea Wagner made 11 stops for Sacred Heart while Mary Montesarchio tallied six ground balls, two draw controls and one caused turnover in the loss.
Wagner - NEC's Leading Goalie... Sophomore Chelsea Wagner is leading the Northeast Conference in both goals against average and save percentage through eight games. Wagner, who has played every minute in goal for the Pioneers, sports a 10.62 goals against average while making 98 saves (.536). She also leads in saves per game at 12.25.
Hauser Back and Impressive... Sophomore attacker Carissa Hauser was forced to the sidelines just two games into the season with a foot injury and missed the next five games. Hauser has bounced back and found her way back to the lineup on Thursday afternoon against Monmouth and delivered three goals and an assist in the Pioneers 12-9 win in the NEC opener. Hauser's return is a big boost to the SHU offense as the Pioneers 12 goal effort matched their season-high from game two against Fairfield. With the sophomore attacker out of the lineup, the Pioneers averaged just 7.8 goals per game.
Montesarchio Setting Up the Offense... Junior captain Mary Montesarchio is coming off a four assist afternoon against Monmouth, matching her career-high for assists in game. Montesarchio leads the Pioneers with 10 assists, a mark that has her tied for fourth among the NEC leaders. She also had four assists in last season tournament loss to Monmouth.
8meter Heaven... The Pioneers have done a solid job of converting their 8meter free position attempts this season. Senior Liz Ottey leads all NEC players with eight markers from the free position while Amanda Williams has six. Senior Katie Salamone is four-of-six on the year while freshman Jessica Ingrilli is two-of-three and junior Meghan McCaffrey is a perfect two-for-two.
NEC Preseason Poll... The Sacred Heart Pioneers were picked to finish 5th in this year's Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. The Monmouth Hawks and Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers were picked as co-favorites in this year's poll, each receiving four first place votes. Robert Morris was the third pick with one first place vote, followed by Quinnipiac in fourth and SHU in fifth. Long Island, Wagner, Central Connecticut and Saint Francis (PA) round out this year's poll in that order.
History... This is the Pioneer's 11th year of competition in the Northeast Conference. Sacred Heart has qualified for the NEC Tournament five times and posts a 91-77 Division I record. The Pioneers have posted 10 wins three times.
