April 29, 2010
PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS
No. 2 Navy (14-3, 5-1 PL) vs. No. 3 Colgate (9-7, 4-2 PL)
Friday, April 30 • 4:30 pm • Ulrich Sports Complex • Bethlehem Pa.
Broadcast: Navy All-Access (All Navy games)
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's lacrosse team (14-3) begins its quest to advance to its first NCAA Tournament when it faces third-seed and two-time defending league champion Colgate (9-7) in the 2010 Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Semifinals on Friday afternoon at 4:30 pm at the Ulrich Sports Complex in Bethlehem, Pa.
Live audio and video for Friday's game will be available through Navy All-Access. Fans are also encouraged to follow the official Navy Athletics Twitter for in-game updates at www.twitter.com/navyathletics(.)
Quick-Sticks
*Navy and Colgate will meet Friday in a rematch of the 2009 league championship. The Mids gained a semblance of revenge from last year's setback in handing the Raiders a 12-8 loss in their regular-season meeting on April 3 in Hamilton, N.Y. Navy put together an almost perfect second half, outscoring Colgate by a 7-0 margin over the final 30 minutes to claim its first victory in four meetings against the Raiders. Danielle Vivonetto (4 g) and Katrina Nietsch (3 g, 1 a) led the way for the Mids in the win.
*Top seed and tournament host Lehigh (13-3) will battle No. 4 Holy Cross (6-10) in Friday's second semifinal, slated for a 7:00 pm start. The two winners will square off in Sunday's championship game at 1:00 pm. The 2010 Patriot League Tournament champion will host an NCAA Play-In game next Saturday, May 8 against Northeast Conference champion Sacred Heart.
*The Midshipmen have qualified for their third Patriot League Tournament in as many seasons, thanks to a program-best 5-1 conference mark. Navy went 4-2 in league play in each of the last two years.
*Navy has won a school-record 14 games this spring, after winning 13 games in both the 2008 (13-4) and 2009 seasons (13-5).
*The Mids enter this week leading the Patriot League and ranked third nationally in scoring (15.41 goals/gm). This is the third-straight year Navy has owned the conference's top scoring offense.
*Navy has gotten it done defensively as well, as they have paced the conference in goals-against average (8.06), while holding 11 opponents to eight or fewer goals this season, including two conference tourney participants in Colgate and Holy Cross. The Mids have continued to perform admirably on defense over the last two weeks despite losing the services of second-team all-league defender Kierstin King, the Patriot League's top ground ball getter (2.72/gm) to injury.
*Senior and 2010 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year Erin Rawlick and sophomore Danielle Vivonetto, a second-team league all-star, currently stand as highest scoring tandem in the country with a combined 118 goals and 153 points. Rawlick enters the week as the nation's leader in points (94) and points per game (5.53), while ranking second in goals (64), fourth in goals per game (3.76) and second in draw controls (5.12).
* Four members of the Navy women's lacrosse team earned All-Patriot League honors, headlined by Erin Rawlick, who earned first-team honors for the third-straight year. Junior Katrina Nietsch picked up second-team kudos for the third time in as many seasons, while Danielle Vivonetto and Kierstin King were both honored on the second team. Despite its league-best 14 wins and having earned a share of the regular-season crown for the first time in program history, Navy was awarded just one first-team selection - the fewest of all teams to qualify for the conference tourney.
Click here to read more about Navy's all-conference honorees
Scouting Colgate
*Third-seeded Colgate enters the weekend playoff with a 9-7 overall mark, including a 4-2 record in league play ... Colgate has carried the league banner into each of the last two NCAA Tournaments and four times in the last six years (2004, '05, '08, '09).
*The Raiders placed four players on the All-Patriot League First Team with Meghan Lawler, Colleen Bubnack Courtney Miller and Christina Roa each earning nods. Lawler (33 g, 42 a), Bubnack (34 g, 19 a) and Miller (34 g, 10 a), a trio that has produced 101 goals and nearly 64 percent of the team's total offense, each are repeat first-team honorees ... Roa, meanwhile, the conference leader in saves per game (10.94), is a first-time selection.
*Five of Colgate's nine wins have been decided by two or fewer goals ... the Raiders' two league losses both came at home and at the hands of the Mids and the top-seeded Mountain Hawks ... Colgate has won three of four entering Friday's contest, including a 12-11 overtime victory over upstart Florida on April 11.
The Navy-Colgate Series (Colgate leads, 3-1)
2010 Navy 12, Colgate 8 (April 3 in Hamilton, N.Y.)
2009 Colgate 17, Navy 4 (PL Final; April 26 in Hamilton, N.Y.)
Colgate 10, Navy 4 (March 28 in Annapolis, Md.)
2008 Colgate 19, Navy 10 (March 22 in Hamilton N.Y.)
What's Next
If Navy advances to Sunday's championship, the Mids will face either host Lehigh or No. 4 seed Holy Cross.
A quick look at Lehigh
*Lehigh (13-3, 5-1 Patriot League) shared the regular-season title with the Mids, as both teams finished with 5-1 conference marks. It was the program's first regular-season title since 1994.
*The Mountain Hawks earned the right to host this weekend's playoff by virtue of its 15-7 head-to-head victory over the Mids on April 17 in Bethlehem.
*Lehigh's lone league loss came at the hands of American, who missed the league tournament on the final day of the regular-season after losing at Holy Cross.
*Led by Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Dykstra (51 g, 7 a), the Mountain Hawks produced six league all-stars, including four first-team selections: Dykstra, Kelly Draper (34 g, 18 a), Allison Thomas (33 g, 14 a) and Leigh Ann Torcivia (42 gb, 16 caused to).
*Navy owns a 1-3 record all-time against Lehigh, with its lone win coming in last year's league semifinal.
A quick look at Holy Cross
* After a two-year hiatus, Holy Cross (6-10, 3-3 Patriot League) earned its way back into the league tournament with a 16-11 home win over American last Saturday. The Crusaders won back-to-back league titles in 2006 and 2007.
*The Crusaders enter the weekend riding high after their victory over American, the only team this season to knock off Lehigh in conference play. Holy Cross has won four of six overall, including three of their final four league contests after beginning conference play at 0-2.
*Holy Cross is led by Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year Amy Martin (.503 save pct.; 10.75 saves/gm) and fellow first-team all-star Meg O'Leary (19 caused TO). Also earning second-team all-league recognition for the Crusaders was senior Katie Gardner (27 g, 21 a) and sophomore Kat Sutton (35 g, 6 a).
*In their 2010 regular-season meeting, Navy used a dominant defensive performance, holding the Crusaders without a goal for the final 42:02 in a 10-4 victory on March 27. The Mids are 3-0 all-time against Holy Cross.
The Rawlick File
In her senior season, Navy's team captain Erin Rawlick has continued to raise the bar for the upstart Midshipmen women's lacrosse program. --- Rawlick Game-By-Game Statistics
Consider that...
...earlier this week she was named the Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Year and was recognized as a first-team all star for the third time in as many seasons. She is the first Midshipman to earn player-of-the-year honors.
...for the third-straight week, she continues to lead the nation in scoring with 94 points (64 g, 30 a) and a stellar 5.53 point-per game average. Her 5.12 draw controls per game, meanwhile, leads the Patriot League and is the second-highest average nationally. She has paced the conference in scoring and draw controls in each of the last two seasons.
...in 17 games this spring, she has produced 64 goals, including an NCAA-leading 14 hat tricks, and 30 assists for a career-best 94 points, the third-highest single-season scoring output in conference history.
...this is her third-straight season with 90 or more points and, as it stands, projects to be her third-straight season of leading the Patriot League in scoring; a feat never accomplished in the conference's 20-year history of Division I lacrosse.
... she ranks second on NCAA active career scoring list with 277 points (186 g, 91 a) in just 52 games.
...over the last three seasons, she has scored more points than any Division I women's lacrosse player.
...she owns the NCAA's top single-game scoring output in the country this spring, a 13-point effort (4 g, 9 a) against Howard on Feb. 5.
...together with sophomore attacker Danielle Vivonetto, she is part of the highest scoring tandem in the country with a combined 118 goals and 153 points.
...she earned Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week honors in four-straight weeks to open the 2010 campaign. Rawlick is one of just two players to accomplish that feat and the first since Lafayette's Shari Krasnoo did so in 1991.
Below is a look at how Rawlick stands amongst the Patriot League's all-time top scorers.
Most Points, Career
308 1. Jill Altshuler, Lehigh (1993-96)
291 2. Patricia Sutton, Holy Cross (2004-07)
277 3. Erin Rawlick, Navy (2008-Present)
Most Goals, Career
242 1. Jill Altshuler, Lehigh (1993-96)
215 2. Patricia Sutton, Holy Cross (2004-07)
199 3. Katie McVeigh, Colgate (2003-06)
196 4. Heather McClelland, Lafayette(1999-2002)
194 5. Jen Amendola, Holy Cross (1998-2001)
186 6. Erin Rawlick, Navy (2008-Present)
Most Assists, Career
134 1. Madalyn Booth, Lafayette (2005-2008)
97 2. Erin Rowse, Holy Cross (2000-03)
91 3. Erin Rawlick, Navy (2008-Present)
Most Points, Season
119 1. Jill Altshuler, Lehigh (1996)
105 2. Shari Krasnoo, Colgate (1991)
94 3. Erin Rawlick (2010)
92 4. Erin Rawlick, Navy (2009)
91 5. Erin Rawlick, Navy (2008)
Top Goal-Scoring Tandems
1. Erin Rawlick (64) and Danielle Vivonetto (54) Navy 118
2. Bergan Foley (68) and Liz Lovejoy (38) Louisville 106
3. Molly Hastrich (53) and Christine Hanley (46) St. Bonaventure 99
4. Katrina Dowd (51) and Shannon Smith (41) Northwestern 92
5. Grace Gavin (59) and Emily Gibson (31) Loyola (Md.) 90
Top Point-Scoring Tandems
1. Erin Rawlick (94) and Danielle Vivonetto (59) Navy 153
2. Tee LaDouceur (68) and Christina Dove (77) Syracuse 145
3. Kelly Haggerty (71) and Alayna Markwoldt (66) Ohio State 137
4. Katrina Dowd (71) and Shannon Smith (63) Northwestern 134
5. Beran Foley (72) and Katie Oliverio (59) Louisville 131
Navy Lax News, Notes, Trends & Streaks
*Last Saturday's win over Bucknell marked Navy's 40th win in the 52nd game of its Division I tenure. The Mids are 40-12 (.769) in three seasons of varsity ball - the best mark of any Patriot League program during this stretch.
*The Mids matched their program-best scoring output with 24 goals, a mark previously achieved this season against Howard (2/4/10) and against St. Francis (Pa.) on 3/4/08. It also represented Navy's greatest margin of victory in 21 games against Patriot League competition. Navy has scored 20 or more goals four times this season.
*This season, Navy owns a perfect 11-0 record when scoring first. The battle on the draw circle has also proved very telling as the Mids have produced wins in each of the 10 games it has come out on top in that category. Entering this week, Navy ranks sixth nationally in draw controls (14.59/gm).
*Erin Rawlick set a Patriot League record in Saturday's win over Bucknell by hauling in 11 draw controls.
* Navy owns an impressive 11-1 mark at home this spring. The Mids, who are now 29-4 (.878) all-time in Annapolis, have outscored the opposition by a 203-79 margin (an average of 10.33 goals per game) at home this season.
*Navy has won six of seven Patriot League road games dating back to 2008. The Mids are 3-2 on the road this spring and have won 10 of their last 16 contests outside Annapolis.
*Two of Navy's setbacks this season have come at the hands of nationally ranked foes (No. 18 William & Mary on March 10 & No. 3 Duke on March 21). The Blue Devils entered this week at 12-5 and ranked fifth in the IWLCA poll, while the Tribe are 9-7 overall and checked in at No. 20 nationally.
*Navy owns a 1-2 all-time postseason record after reaching the conference championship game last spring.
Navy's Postseason History
2009 No. 3 Navy 12, No. 2 Lehigh 11 Semifinal (Hamilton, N.Y.)
No. 1 Colgate 17, No. 3 Navy 4 Championship (Hamilton, N.Y.)
2008 No. 1 American 17, No. 4 Navy 15 Semifinal (Washington, D.C.)
*Did you know that Danielle Vivonetto is one of four siblings to play Division I lacrosse? Get to know Danielle a little bit more in this Navy Lax Q&A feature.
*Marylanders help Navy women's lacrosse program take off - Seniors Erin Rawlick & Mary Ruttum were recently featured in a Baltimore Sun story. Click here to read it in its entirety
Leadership Aplenty
*Great leaders have long been synonymous with Annapolis, and that, of course, is just the case on this year's Navy team. While the number of underclassmen (26) on this year's roster is nearly double that of Navy's upperclassmen (eight juniors and seven seniors), the Class of 2010 represents the Midshipmen's most experienced group to take the field yet.
*The young Navy program has grown tremendously since its transitional club season in 2007. Six members of this year's seven-member senior class are holdovers from that squad and have been there from the beginning, experiencing the ebbs and flows of the Midshipmen's first forays in collegiate women's lacrosse: Brittany Amerau, Maggie Morton Erin Rawlick, Mary Ruttum, Megan Silk and Tori Wiedmeier.
*On and off the field, Mary Ruttum is someone the Mids count on to guide this underclassmen-laden squad. Ruttum is the program's second-leading scorer with 130 career points (85 goals, 45 assists). A year ago, she not only produced a second-straight 30-goal season and was the team leader in ground balls (2.61/gm), but she was also the most accurate shot in the entire Patriot League, scoring on 61.2% of her shot attempts. This season, she has been a steady contributor on the Navy attack with 18 goals and 33 points.
Earlier this week, Ruttum earned the conference's top academic accolade in being named the 2010 Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Ruttum, an honors systems engineering major, carries a 3.71 cumulative grade-point average and was the Seventh Company Commander this fall. She is the first Navy women's lacrosse player to garner the conference's top academic accolade.
*For the second-straight year Navy has benefitted from the services of a four-year soccer standout in senior Shelly Moeller. A year ago, it was Kristen Laraway and Jenn Dunbar who became important contributors on the Midshipmen backline. The battle-tested Moeller, a two-time league defensive player of the year, four-time conference all-star and the program's career games-played leader, has added tremendous athleticism and toughness to Navy's defensive unit.
Honors Continue to Roll in for Navy Laxers
Navy freshman Kathy Young (Berwyn, Pa.) has been recognized as the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in her collegiate career, the conference office announced Monday afternoon. For Young, who was named the conference rookie of the week on February 23, it is her second career weekly league accolade.
Young has paid immediate dividends in her first collegiate season. She has started all 17 games and ranks fourth on the team in scoring with 37 points on 24 goals and 13 assists. With 24 goals on 45 shots, she leads the Patriot League in shooting percentage at a 53.3 percent clip. Meanwhile, her 37 points rank second to only Lafayette's Addie Godfrey (44 pts) for the most among conference freshmen.
This season, five different Navy players have combined for a conference-high 11 player-of-the-week awards.
2010 Navy Women's Lacrosse Honor Roll
Team Accolades
*Earned share of Patriot League regular-season title for first time in school history
*Established new school record for victories (14)
*Registered third season double-digit win season
*Earned third Patriot League Tournament berth in as many seasons
Individual
Erin Rawlick
*Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year
*First-Team All-Patriot League
*Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week (2/23, 3/2, 3/8, 3/15)
Kierstin King
*Second-Team All-Patriot League
*Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week (2/23, 3/22, 3/29)
Katrina Nietsch
*Second-Team All-Patriot League
*Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week (4/5)
Mary Ruttum
*Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Danielle Vivonetto
*Second-Team All-Patriot League
Elaina Ponchione
*Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week (2/23)
Kathy Young
*Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week (4/26)
*Patriot League Rookie of the Week (2/23)
*WomensLacrosse.com National Honor Roll (2/24)
Last Time Out
Navy 24, Bucknell 4
Senior Erin Rawlick and junior Caitlin Mandrin Hill produced eight points apiece in a dominant effort as Navy breezed past visiting Bucknell in a 24-4 Senior Day win lastSaturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. With the win, Navy clinched a share of its first regular-season conference title.
Read the NavySports.com recap
Timchal Atop All-Time Wins List
Navy's Cindy Timchal ran her NCAA-best win total to 376 with the Mids' win in ther regular-season finale against Bucknell. Timchal has led the Mids to three-straight double-figure win seasons and a 40-12 mark (.764) since the program's inception.
Her 376 wins are the most by any NCAA lacrosse coach, men's or women's, spanning all three divisions. Timchal-led squads have won at least 11 games in every season since 1991, a stretch of 19 consecutive years over which her teams have combined to produce an amazing 315-58 (.844) overall record.
Timchal has coached her teams to 21 NCAA Tournament appearances - 16 in as many seasons at Maryland and five during her tenure at Northwestern.
NCAA Women's Lacrosse Win Leaders (All Divisions)
Year Wins 2010 Record
1. Cindy Timchal 28th 376 14-3
2. Pat Genovese (William Smith) 37th 369 7-6
3. Sharon Pfluger (TCNJ) 24th 365 14-1
4. Missy Foote (Middlebury) 28th 349 7-6
5. Chris Sailer (Princeton) 23rd 302 6-9
Mids Tabbed Second in Preseason Poll
Navy has been picked to finish in a second-place tie in the Patriot League in a vote by the conference's coaches and sports information directors. The Mids finished in that exact position a year ago and advanced to the conference championship game by knocking off No. 2 seed Lehigh in the semifinals (Note: Navy, Lehigh and Bucknell each finished with 4-2 conference marks a year ago).
Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll
1. Colgate - 66 points (7 first-place votes)
2. Lehigh - 59 points (4)
Navy - 59 points (3)
4. Bucknell - 40 points
5. Holy Cross - 30 points
6. American - 28 points
7. Lafayette - 12 points
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## GO NAVY! ##
