No. 20/20 Women’s Lacrosse Closes Out Regular Season in Bid for America East Two Seed
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | Saturday, April 26, Noon | Memorial Field, Durham, N.H. |
New Hampshire leads the series 11-7 |
ALBANY, N.Y. – No. 20/20 University at Albany women’s lacrosse (12-2, 3-1 AE) travels to New Hampshire (7-8, 2-2 AE) for its final regular season game on Saturday, slated to begin at noon from Memorial Field.
The Purple & Gold will be playing its second straight league game on the road, after downing UMBC 12-8 in Baltimore last Saturday. With that victory, the Great Danes clinched a spot in the America East Tournament for the eighth consecutive season. Rachel Bowles led UAlbany with three goals and two assists for five points. The sophomore recorded 10 points in a 2-0 week for the Great Danes.
With a win on Saturday, UAlbany will clinch the No. 2 seed in the America East Tournament for the second straight year. A loss would set up a series of tiebreaker scenarios, forcing the Great Danes into the three or four seed depending on other league match-ups.
SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats lead the all-time series 11-7. In the last meeting, UAlbany took a 13-6 win against UNH in the 2013 America East Semifinals. Bowles scored three goals to lead all returning Great Danes, and UAlbany ended the game on a four-goal run.
UAlbany has won the last six meetings against UNH, and has taken the last two in Durham by one goal. In 2012, John Battaglino’s squad won 9-8 in Durham, and earned a 13-12 win at UNH in 2010. The teams have met five times in the league tournament.
HUNDRED CLUB
Sophomore attack Rachel Bowles tallied her 100th career point in the win against the Retrievers last Saturday, and has now recorded 103 for her career. The all-time career record in points is192, set by Kate Fontana. Bowles is also ranked fourth all-time in single-season points with 63 in 2014 thus far.
Senior defender Kathleen Lennon became the second Great Dane to tally 200 career draw victories or more in an 18-4 win against Columbia last Wednesday. She has now won 204 in her career to rank second all-time.
PARKER-BOWLES ROYALTY
Senior midfielder Ariana Parker and Rachel Bowles have each tallied multiple-goal performances in three of the last four games. The pair has yet to go a game without recording a point this season. Bowles and Parker have also combined for 12 games with five points or more.
SCOUTING NEW HAMPSHIRE
New Hampshire looks to make an upset bid for the No. 2 tournament seed this weekend. The Wildcats sit tied for third in the league with Vermont, but the Catamounts currently hold the tiebreaker over the Wildcats. With a win against the Great Danes, UNH secures a No. 2 or No. 3 spot depending on the outcome of the Stony Brook-Vermont contest.
UNH fell 15-5 to Stony Brook last Saturday, but was previously on a two-game winning streak in the league with victories over UMBC and Binghamton.
Laura McHoul ranks second in the league in conference-game assists with 2.50 per game. Laura Puccia tops the America East in league-only draws with 6.33 per game.
UALBANY AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS
Points ……………………………………………………………………….. 21st (281)
Rachel Bowles – Points……………………………………… 8th (4.50 per game)
Rachel Bowles – Assists…………………………………… 27th (1.64 per game)
Scoring Offense………………………………………………………….. 8th (14.79 gpg)
Scoring Defense………………………………………………………….. 4th (6.86 gpg)
Anna Berman – GAA…………………………………………. 4th (6.76 gapg)
Anna Berman – Save %…………………………………….. 19th (.468)
Scoring Margin…………………………………………………………….. 3rd (7.93)
Kathleen Lennon – Draw Controls………………………………….. 11th (5.21 per game)
RPI ……………………………………………………………………….. 19th
2014 HONORS
Tewaaraton Watch List
Allie Phelan, Sr., M
Inside Lacrosse Rookie of the Year Watch List
Dakotah Savitcheff, Fr., A
Inside Lacrosse All-America Midseason Watch List
Kathleen Lennon, Sr., D (Third Team)
America East Offensive Player of the Week
Allie Phelan, Sr., M (April 7)
Rachel Bowles, R-So., A (March 10)
Rachel Bowles, R-So., A (March 3)
Rachel Bowles, R-So., A (Feb. 24)
America East Defensive Player of the Week
Anna Berman, Sr., GK (March 24)
Kathleen Lennon, Sr., D (March 17)
America East Rookie of the Week
Dakotah Savitcheff, Fr., A (March 31)
Dakotah Savitcheff, Fr., A (March 3)