OPENING DRAW
Colgate will attempt to win its third consecutive Patriot League Tournament crown and fifth in school history this weekend at the league championships. The Raiders enter the weekend as the third seed and will play second seeded Navy in a semifinal match-up this Friday at 4:30 p.m. at the Ulrich Sports Complex. This is a rematch of the 2009 league tournament title game as Colgate downed the Midshipmen 17-4 in Hamilton. The Raiders will look to avenge an earlier set back at the hands of Navy 12-8 on April 3. Tournament host and top seed Lehigh will play fourth seeded Holy Cross in the tournament’s second game. A win over Navy would give Colgate three consecutive double figured win seasons.
THE PROGRAM
Colgate started its women’s lacrosse program in 1974. Since its inception, it has posted a 323-221-4 overall record; won four Patriot League titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament four times as well. The Raiders posted their 300th victory in the program’s history with a 19-18 victory over Marist in a 2008 NCAA Tournament Play-in Game. Colgate notched a 17-4 record in the 1979 season, which stands as the most wins in a single season. The 2009 squad finished with a 14-5 overall mark, which set a school record for wins in a single season during the Division I era.
THE HEAD COACH
Heather Young, the 2009 Patriot League Coach of the Year, enters her fourth year at the helm of the Colgate program. Since being named the head coach prior to the 2007 season, she has piloted the program to a 40-35 record; back-to-back Patriot League titles and NCAA Tournament berths. In 2009, her squad defeated Navy 17-4 in the Patriot League title game and eventually finished 14-5 overall. The Raiders ranked among the nation’s top 10 as a defensive unit as well as boasting a top 15 scoring offense. In her three-years in Hamilton, Colgate has had 16 all-league selections – nine first team and seven second team mentions; two second team all-region honorees, as well as the 2009 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year – Maddie Kearns. Young has a career record of 55-66, which includes a three-year stint at Davidson.
LAST WEEKEND RECAP
Colgate dropped a 15-12 decision to Lehigh on Senior Day in Hamilton. Kate Bergstrom posted a career-high five points on four goals and one assist to lead the Raiders offensively. The Raiders held a 4-1 advantage in the early going, but Lauren Dykstra and Inneke Carmola led the Mountain Hawks back, as they took a 9-6 lead into intermission. Dykstra scored a game high six goals, while Carmola finished with three, all coming in a span of 2:49 of the opening half. Her second goal of the game gave Lehigh the lead for good. Colgate pulled within two goals twice in the second half, the latest coming with 2:22 left in regulation, but Lauren Murray scored into an open net with 41 seconds left to cement the victory. Christina Roa had 10 saves in the loss.
COLGATE AT A GLIMPSE
Colgate’s offensive attack, which ranks 49th nationally (10.06 gpg), focuses on four – Meghan Lawler (33-42-75), Colleen Bubnack (34-19-52), Courtney Miller (34-10-44) and Kate Bergstrom (25-6-31). Katie Sullivan (16-6-22) and Quincey Spagnoletti (15-3-18) round out Colgate’s double digit goal scorers. Christina Roa (9-7, 175 saves) has played every minute in net, absent three. Five of the Raiders’ nine wins thus far have been close shaves – Stony Brook (10-9), American (11-9), George Mason (9-7), Holy Cross (14-13) and Florida (12-11). Six of their 16 games have been determined by two goals or less.
NAVY IN BRIEF
The Midshipmen enter the weekend with a 14-3 record. Navy blasted Bucknell 24-4 in its final regular-season game behind eight-point performances by Erin Rawlick and Caitlin Mandrin-Hill. Offensively, Rawlick (64-30-94) is one of the top goal scorers and point producers in the country, while sophomore Danielle Vivonetto (54-5-59) and Mandrin-Hill (28-25-53) also possess point totals over 50. Kathy Young (24-13-37) and Katrina Nietsch (25-11-36) give Navy five offensive threats with more than 20 goals on the season. The Midshipmen have used five goalies this season with Elaina Ponchione (12-3, 81 saves) seeing most of the action. Navy, which has outscored the competition 262-137, has scored 20 or more goals in four games this year. It’s 15.41 goal per game average, ranks third in the country.
SERIES VERSUS NAVY
The two squads have met four times with Colgate leading the series 3-1. The Raiders have outscored the Mids 54-30 in the previous meetings. Colgate won the inaugural contest back in 2008 with a 19-10 decision in Hamilton. The Raiders swept last year’s two games with scores of 10-4 in Annapolis and 17-4 in the title game of the Patriot League Tournament. Navy snapped the losing skid with a 12-8 win in Hamilton earlier this season.
ALL-TIME SCORING VERSUS NAVY
Seven current Raiders have posted at least one point in their respective careers versus Navy with Colleen Bubnack (6-10-16) and Meghan Lawler (10-4-14) leading the way. Courtney Miller (5-0-5), Katie Sullivan (3-0-3), and Kate Bergstrom (2-0-2) round out the goal scorers for the Raiders. Greer Goebels (0-2-2) dished off two helpers in the 17-4 triumph over the Mids in the 2009 title game.
LAST TIME VERSUS NAVY
Navy outscored Colgate 7-0 in the second half en route to posting a come-from-behind 12-8 victory on April 3. Trailing 8-5 at intermission, the Mids took the lead for good with 21:11 left on a goal by Mary Ruttum. Colleen Bubnack led Colgate with a two-goal, three-assist effort, while Meghan Lawler had two goals and two assists in the loss. Christina Roa saved 12 shots for Colgate.
IN THE EVENT
Should Colgate advance to its third consecutive tournament title game, the Raiders would square off with either Lehigh or Holy Cross. Here are brief updates on those two programs.
Holy Cross: The Crusaders enter their match up with the Mountain Hawks riding a two-game win streak, including a 16-11 victory over American to clinch the tournament’s final berth. Holy Cross, 6-10 overall, has eight different scorers with 10 or more goals. Katie Gardner (27-21-48), Kat Sutton (35-6-41) and Taylor Zebrowski (21-10-31) lead the way for the Crusaders. Goalie Amy Martin (6-10, 172 saves) is ranked among the top goalies in the country in saves per game. Colgate holds a 19-7 overall lead in the series, but is 1-2 against Holy Cross in its Patriot League Tournament history. The Raiders won their third straight over the Crusaders by squeaking out a 14-13 victory on March 20. Colleen Bubnack’s goal with 2:30 left provided the winning margin. HC led once in the game at 7-6 and the game featured five ties. Meghan Lawler collected four goals and dished out two assists, while Bubnack finished with five scores. Christina Roa saved 10 in the win.
Lehigh: The Mountain Hawks captured their first PL regular-season title since 1994 with a 15-12 victory over Colgate last Saturday evening to run their record to 13-3 overall. Lehigh has six players with 20 or more goals on the roster with Lauren Dykstra (51-7-58), Kelly Draper (34-18-52), Allison Thomas (33-14-47) and Inneke Carmola (31-8-39) leading the way. Mary Leah DiNisco (8-3, 79 saves) has played the majority of time in net, however Kelsey Ferris (5-0, 54 saves) has come up big in victories over Navy and Colgate. Despite dropping the last two versus Lehigh, the Raiders still hold a 17-11 advantage in the series. Colgate is 2-0 all-time versus Lehigh in Patriot League Tournament play.
COLGATE’S PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNEY HISTORY
Colgate will be playing in its 10th consecutive league tournament and has an all-time record of 9-5. The Raiders won the titles in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009. Colgate has advanced to NCAA Tournaments with victories over American (2004), Holy Cross (2005), American (2008) and Navy (2009).
A BRIEF REWIND
Colgate broke open a 3-3 game with seven consecutive goals en route to a convincing 17-4 victory over Navy at Tyler’s Field. The Raiders trailed only once at 1-0. Nine different players scored a goal for Colgate with Courtney Miller’s four scores leading the way. Colleen Bubnack posted a five-point afternoon with three goals and two assists while Meghan Lawler added a two goal and two assist performance. Molly Carroll and Katie Sullivan also netted two goals each. The Raiders outshot the Mids 34-14. Bubnack was named the tournament MVP following the victory.
SOMETHING VERY ODD
Colleen Bubnack must love the numbers three and five. In her last seven games, the junior has posted four three-point outings and three five-point performances. During this stretch, she has 16 goals and 12 assists.
DOUBLE HONORS – CHAPTER II
For the second time this season, Courtney Miller and Christina Roa each garnered the Patriot League Offensive and Goalie of the Week honors in the same week. Miller’s nine goals, including the game winner versus Florida and Roa’s 29 saves versus Lafayette and the Gators gave them the nod. The last time this duo accomplished this feat together was on March 29 after their respective performances versus UAlbany and Marist. Colleen Bubnack (March 22) and most recently Meghan Lawler (April 19) are the only other Raider to receive a weekly award from the league office this season.
REWRITING HISTORY
With 6:52 remaining in the opening half of Colgate’s 15-8 victory at Lafayette, Meghan Lawler entered the Raider single-season record books for women’s lacrosse. Her assist on Quincey Spagnoletti’s 10th goal of the year was her 30th of the season, which broke Beth Hallenbeck’s former mark of 29 set back in the 1982 campaign. At the time, it was the oldest standing mark in the women’s lacrosse record book at Colgate. She enters the Patriot League Tournament with 42 assists, which ranks second nationally. However, her 2.63 assists per game average is tops in the country. The senior’s pursuit for another record came to an end two weeks ago. Her assist on Katie Sullivan’s 12th goal of the year with 20:17 left in the opening half at Lafayette broke Shari Krasnoo’s former record of 79 set between 1988-91. Currently, Lawler has 84 career assists.
SURPASSING 200
Meghan Lawler became the sixth player in school history to surpass the 200 career-point mark with her eight-point effort at Bucknell. Her 208 points is fourth on the all-time charts, five shy of passing Kelly Winning’s 212-point production from 2003-06. She currently stands in a tie for seventh with Cindy Headley with 124 career goals.
QUICK DRAW
Courtney Miller erased the single-season draw control record at Colgate by winning six in the victory at Bucknell. The sophomore heads into the rematch with Navy with 52 on the season. The former mark was set back in 2008 by current sophomore Colleen Bubnack (50). Miller has 93 draw controls in her first two seasons, which ranks seventh on Colgate’s all-time list. She is three away from passing Kate Manzella for sixth and six from moving by Anne Currier from fifth.
IN THE CREASE
When Christina Roa saved a season-high 16 versus Florida in the 12-11 victory, it marked her eighth consecutive game with 10 or more saves this season. The streak ended the following game with a two-save effort at Bucknell. However, she returned to double figured save totals with 10 stops versus Lehigh in the regular-season finale. The sophomore, who has 175 saves on the year, has 12 double-digit save performances this year alone. She moved by Sue Bielamowicz (2005) and Winnie Chao (1987) in the loss to the Mountain Hawks and needs 11 more to by pass Amanda Chambers (185) for eighth and 15 more to move by Hilary Meyer’s 189 save effort back in 1999. Earlier in the year, Roa became the ninth goalie in the program’s history to surpass the 200 save milestone. Her 261 saves in her career is 103 away from moving into eighth all-time. She posted a career-high 19 saves at Lehigh last year.
IN THE RANKINGS
Meghan Lawler, Christina Roa, Courtney Miller, Colleen Bubnack and Alex Kuntz are all among the top 50 nationally in statistical categories in the most recent NCAA Rankings.
Lawler – 1st in assists per game (2.63 apg), second in total assists (42), sixth in total points (75) and eighth in points per game (4.80).
Roa –fourth in saves (175), fifth in saves per game (10.94), 21st in save percentage (.483) and 47th in goals against average (11.37 gaa)
Miller – tied for 18th in draw controls per game (3.25) and tied for 27th in ground balls per game (2.69)
Bubnack – T47th in caused turnovers per game (1.53) and T35th in ground balls per game (2.60)
Kuntz – tied for 44th in ground balls per game (2.50).
BACK TO BACK
On eight separate occasions, a Colgate player has scored back to back goals in the course of a game and four of these have been in less than a minute. Courtney Miller was the first to accomplish this versus then sixth-ranked Syracuse when she accomplished the feat in 55 seconds. Three have come in the last two games. Greer Goebels scored 26 seconds apart in the second half as Colgate rallied for a victory over Marist. Meghan Lawler holds the record this season by posting two goals in 12 seconds, both from Colleen Bubnack in the first half of the victory at Binghamton. Also versus the Bearcats, Katie Sullivan scored consecutive goals 24 seconds apart.
RECORDS WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN
By collecting the opening draw control in the victory over Holy Cross, Colleen Bubnack broke the career draw control record at Colgate. Her win moved by current Colgate assistant coach Heidi Ross for the top spot in the program’s history. The former Raider standout posted 108 draw control wins from 2003 to 2006. Bubnack, who has 132 draw controls now, had the top two single-season bests in draw controls before Courtney Miller set the single season record two weekends ago at Bucknell.
MORE ON BUBNACK
Colleen Bubnack has moved into the top 10 all-time at Colgate in ground balls. The junior’s four ground balls versus Lehigh gave her 145 for her career. She is 13 away from passing Carolyn Lyons for ninth.
THE SAN FRANCISCO TREAT
After being held without a point in Colgate’s victory at Lafayette, junior Kate Bergstrom has exploded for 11 goals and one assist in her last three outings, and that includes a career-high five point performance versus Lehigh.
STREAKING FRESHMAN
Quincey Spagnoletti has scored 15 goals on the year and nine of them have come in the last seven games. The freshman has scored at least a goal in seven consecutive games. She has two goal outings against Lafayette and Bucknell during this stretch.