Feb. 22, 2008

Sacred Heart vs. Brown Women's Lacrosse Game Notes in PDF Format

Sacred Heart Pioneers (0-0, 0-0 NEC) vs. Brown Bears (0-0, 0-0 Ivy)

Game #1 - Sunday, February 24, 2008- 1:00 pm - Providence, R.I. - Stevenson Field

Sacred Heart Opens 2008 at Brown... The 2008 season gets underway this Sunday as the Sacred Heart Pioneers travel to Brown University for a 1:00 pm match-up. The Pioneers return a strong nucleus of players with eight double digit scorers back including four players who tallied 20 or more goals in 2007. SHU head coach Laura Cook is back for her ninth season on the bench as she leads her Pioneers in search of their third-straight Northeast Conference Tournament berth and first-ever conference championship.

The Series... Brown leads the all-time series, 2-0. Brown came to Fairfield last season and left with a 13-12 come from behind, overtime win. The two teams met for the first time in 2006 with the Bears posting a 14-4 win at home.

Up Next... The Pioneers will return home on Friday, February 29th to play host to crosstown Fairfield University at 3:00 pm. SHU will remain on Campus Field to take on Villanova on Sunday, March 2nd.

Last Meeting with Brown... Sacred Heart's Liz Ottey scored a career-high five goals but the Brown Bears outscored the Pioneers 2-1 during the overtime session to post a 13-12 win last March. Brown's Jesse Nun netted her first goal of the season with 1:46 left in overtime to send the Bears home with the win. The Pioneers had a chance to tie with 12 seconds left when senior Brianna Bubeck was awarded an 8meter free position attempt but saw her shot just deflected off the stick and sail wide leaving SHU just one goal short. The Pioneers trailed 7-5 at the half as Ottey scored with the horn sounding. SHU tied the game at 7-7 just 1:27 into the second half and battled to an 11-10 lead with 2:04 remaining. The Bears tied it at the 1:15 mark off the stick of Bethany Buzzell. Brown struck first in overtime with Ottey scoring her fifth before Nun's goal broke the tie for good. Bubeck complemented Ottey on the offensive end with four goals and a pair of assists. SHU turned the ball over 29 times in the loss and was 14-of-23 on clear attempts.

Four 20+ Goal Scorers Back... The 2008 Pioneers will be lead offensively by the return of four players who scored 20 or more goals in 2007. Leading the charge is senior Liz Ottey is the Pioneers top-returning scorer after a 27 goal, 16 assist junior season. Fellow senior Katie Salamone had 25 goals with three assists while junior Amanda Williams tallied 20 markers with six helpers. Sophomore Carissa Hauser had a stellar freshman season with 24 goals and 10 assists.

Montesarchio and Williams Coming off All-NEC Seasons... The junior duo of Mary Montesarchio and Amanda Williams earned All-Northeast Conference honors last season. Montesarchio was an all-conference pick for the second-straight year, last season earning a first team nod. She posted 19 goals with 17 assists as well as 21 ground balls, 19 draw wins and 21 caused turnovers. Williams added 23 grounders, 34 draw controls and 15 caused turnovers to her 26 points (20g,6a) to garner second team honors in 2007.

2008 Captains... Senior Alyssa Harris and junior Mary Montesarchio will serve as the 2008 Pioneer team captains. Harris who served as a team captain last season, has appeared in 40 games with 27 starts in her three-years at Sacred Heart. She is coming off a solid junior campaign that saw her put up six goals and four assists for 10 points. She also picked up 26 grounders, won 16 draws and had 12 caused turnovers on the year. Montesarchio, who added NEC All-Tournament team honors to her resume last season, heads into her junior season with 42 goals and 30 assists in her two-year career.

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 88-72 Division I record. The Pioneers have posted 10 wins three times.