Pioneers Head to Western Pennsylvania for Two NEC Match-ups
3/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
March 27, 2008
Sacred Heart Pioneers (5-5, 2-0 NEC) at Robert Morris Colonials (2-6, 1-1 NEC)
Game #11 - Friday, March 28, 2008 - 4:00 pm - Moon Township, Pa. - Joe Walton Stadium
Sacred Heart Pioneers (5-5, 2-0 NEC) at Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash (0-7, 0-1 NEC)
Game #12 - Sunday, March 30, 2008 - 12:00 pm - Loretto, Pa. - DeGol Field
Pioneers Head to Western Pennsylvania... The Sacred Heart Pioneers take a three-game winning streak and a 2-0 Northeast Conference record on the road this weekend with stops at Robert Morris and Saint Francis (PA). After a 2-5 start to the season the Pioneers have righted the ship and evened their record after a 17-10 win over Lafayette on Tuesday afternoon. SHU begins a four-game conference road trip looking to avenge a 14-12 loss to Robert Morris at home last season. The Colonials snapped a six-game slide last weekend with an 18-8 win at Wagner. RMU's only other win came in the season-opener at Cincinnati, 11-8. The Red Flash are looking to get into the win column for the first time this season coming in at 0-7.
The SHU-RMU Series... SHU leads the all-time series, 2-1. The Colonials picked up their first win in the series last year, posting a 14-12 win on the road in Fairfield. The Pioneers took the first two meetings, 11-8 in 2006 and 15-2 in 2005, the Colonials first year of competition as a program.
The SHU-SFPA Series... Sacred Heart leads the all-time series 6-0. SHU posted a 22-3 win over SFPA at home last season. Sacred Heart has never allowed more the seven goals to the Red Flash in their six meetings. The Pioneers and Red Flash have met every season since 2002.
Up Next... The Pioneers continue a four-game NEC road swing by heading to Long Island on Friday, April 4th and ending at Wagner next Sunday, April 6th.
Last Meeting with Robert Morris... The Sacred Heart women's lacrosse team battled back from a 7-1 first half deficit and held a 12-10 lead midway through the second half but couldn't hold on as Robert Morris scored four unanswered to come away with a 14-12 win last season in Fairfield. The Pioneers got five goals from senior Brianna Bubeck and three goals and two assists from junior Liz Ottey.
Last Meeting with Saint Francis (PA)... Sacred Heart senior Tara Gebbia scored four times with fellow senior Brianna Bubeck adding two goals and three assists to lead the Pioneers to a 22-3 win over Saint Francis (PA) last season on Campus Field. Sophomore Carissa Hauser led all scorers with six points on four goals and two assists. The Pioneers wasted little time building their lead, running out to a 9-0 lead by the 13 minute mark. SHU led 13-2 at the half, out shooting SFPA 26-3 while winning 13 draws. The second half was more of the same for SHU as the Pioneers scored the first six goals to build a 19-2 lead on the road to victory. Sacred Heart finished the day out shooting the Red Flash 43-7 and winning 21 of 27 draws taken.
Liz Ottey and Chelsea Wagner Earn NEC Weekly Awards... Senior Liz Ottey and sophomore Chelsea Wagner were awarded this week's NEC Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week after helping SHU to wins over the Hawks and The Mount. Ottey scored three goals against Monmouth and added three goals and two assists against Mount St. Mary's. For her efforts, Ottey was also named the Enterprise Rent-A-Car / SHU Student-Athlete of the Week. Wagner, the NEC's leading goalkeeper, posted 12 saves against the Hawks and 13 saves against the Mount.
Montesarchio - Quite the Helper... Junior captain Mary Montesarchio posted a career-high seven assists in Tuesday's win over Lafayette giving her 18 on the season. Montesarchio is second among the NEC leaders averaging 1.80 assists per game.
A Trio of 90 Point Scorers... Seniors Katie Salamone and Liz Ottey along with junior Mary Montesarchio all have eclipsed the 90 point plateau for their careers and are quickly closing in on the century mark. Salamone has 78 career goals and is tied with Ottey at 95 career points. Montesarchio has 97 points on 49 goals and 48 assists. Her 48 career assists are second all-time behind Jen Fallon (1993-96) who had 52 for her career. At 18 assists this year, her next assist will set a new school mark for assists in a season, a mark she now shares with Brianna Bubeck (2007), Deirdre Hynes (1996) and Fallon (1996).
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 93-77 Division I record. The Pioneers have posted 10 wins three times.
