March 2, 2010

Center Valley, Pa. – As the season marches closer to League play, student-athletes from four different schools earned the awards for the first week of March. Navy’s Erin Rawlick secured her second-consecutive Offensive Player of the Week award and the fourth of her career. Lauren Dykstra became Lehigh’s first Defensive Player of the Week in nearly two years, while Amy Martin of Holy Cross was named the Goalkeeper of the Week. American’s Chiara Speziale wrapped up the Rookie of the Week nod, becoming the first in school history to capture the award.

Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Release - 3.2.10

Offensive Player of the Week

Erin Rawlick, Navy Sr., A, Forest Hill, Md.

Rawlick captured her second consecutive Offensive Player of the Week nod after scoring six goals and adding three assists in Navy’s 14-7 road victory against Davidson. She tallied four straight goals during the game, including the eventual game winner. In five games this season, she leads the Mids with 23 goals, 13 assists and 36 points.

Defensive Player of the Week

Lauren Dykstra, Lehigh Jr., M, Mendham, N.J.

Dykstra’s efforts at midfield helped spark Lehigh’s rally to upend Delaware in the last minute, 12-11. She collected four groundballs and three draw controls, leading the Mountain Hawks in both categories in the game.

Goalkeeper of the Week

Amy Martin, Holy Cross Jr., GK, Bloomfield, Mich.

Martin faced 43 shots on goal and made 25 saves as she played every minute of the Crusaders’ games against No. 20/NR New Hampshire and Yale. She had a 9.00 goals-against average and a .581 save percentage for the week, while averaging 12.5 saves per game.

Rookie of the Week

Chiara Speziale, American Fr., A, West Islip, N.Y.

Speziale scored twice and picked up a groundball in American’s 12-11 loss to George Washington. She followed up that performance with two goals and an assist in the Eagles’ 14-10 win at Stony Brook. For the week, she averaged 2.0 goals, 0.5 assists, 2.5 points and 0.5 groundballs per game.

Honorable Mention Performances Last Week

Kierstin King, Navy So., D, Upperco, Md.

King picked up three draw controls and three groundballs in Navy’s 14-7 victory at Davidson.

Claire Olechowski, Navy Fr., M, Annapolis, Md.

Olechowski scored once, collected four groundballs and four draw controls while causing three turnovers for the Mids in their victory at Davidson.

Julia Braun, Bucknell Jr., M, Tomkins Cove, N.Y.

In two games, Braun averaged 3.5 goals, 0.5 assists, 4.0 points, 1.5 groundballs, 5.0 draw controls and 2 caused turnovers per game for the Bison against Wagner and Robert Morris.

Courtney Miller, Colgate So., M, Chappaqua, N.Y.

Against No. 12/14 Penn State, Miller scored three goals and collected seven draw controls for the Raiders.

League Notebook

Rawlick, Dykstra, Donohue, Carmola Among National Leaders
Navy’s Erin Rawlick, Lauren Dykstra and Inneke Carmola of Lehigh and Bucknell’s Carol Donohue find themselves on several national lists as the season continues unfolding. Rawlick’s 40-game point-scoring streak is currently tied for seventh in the nation, while her 40 straight games with a goal is tied for fourth. Among active players, her 219 career points are second-best, while her 145 goals are fifth and her 74 assists are sixth in the nation. Dykstra, a junior, is tenth in the country with a 36-game point-scoring streak, while her 138 goals are seventh among active players. Donohue is sits eighth among active players with 68 career assists, while Carmola’s 122 tallies are 11th-best among players still hitting the field. In addition to Rawlick sitting second on the active career points list, Carmola is tied for 10th (171), Donohue is tied for 14th (163) and Dykstra is tied for 17th (158).

Lawler Moving Up in Colgate Annals
Meghan Lawler continues to rack up the points for Colgate. In the Raiders’ 17-7 loss to No. 12/14 Penn State on Saturday, Lawler moved into eighth place on the all-time assist list at Colgate. Her 49 career helpers put her one ahead of Kate Manzella. Kara Keenan and Angela Chongris are next on the list, both with 55 assists. Lawler also moved into tenth place on Colgate’s all-time points list, ahead of Ashley Didio. Lawler now has 143 career points.

Nationally-Ranked Teams Dot Schedule
Before entering League play in the upcoming weeks, several of the Patriot League schools are challenging themselves against nationally-ranked opposition. Colgate and Bucknell have both played Penn State, now ranked 13th by both InsideLacrosse.com and the IWLCA, and Lehigh will battle the Nittany Lions on April 7. In its second contest of the season, American traveled to Ohio State, which now 18th in the latest IWLCA poll. No. 14/19 New Hampshire, which is coming off a win over Holy Cross, hosts Colgate on Saturday, after the Raiders host No. 20/NR Cornell on Wednesday. Lafayette is scheduled to play Penn, ranked third in both polls, on March 24, while Navy has contests later this season against No. 18/16 William & Mary and No. 5/5 Duke.

Dykstra Recognized by Matt DaSilva of Lacrosse Magazine
Lauren Dykstra of Lehigh, who was voted the Patriot League’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year by League coaches and sports information directors, but also recognized by Lacrosse Magazine writer Matt DaSilva before the season’s opening draw control. DaSilva created his own preseason team of All-Americans (which he called the All-DaSilva Team). Dykstra occupied one of the attack positions, alongside Northwestern’s Katrina Dowd and Kelly Haggerty of Ohio State.

Colgate Selected to Repeat
With 13 letterwinners and four starters returning, Colgate was selected to repeat as Patriot League Champions in a vote performed by head coaches and sports information directors around the League. The Raiders picked up 66 points and seven first-place votes. Lehigh and Navy each received 59 points, with the Mountain Hawks nabbing four first-place votes and Mids capturing three. Bucknell finished fourth with 40 points, followed by Holy Cross (30), American (28) and Lafayette (12). Lehigh’s Lauren Dykstra was voted as the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and Caitlin Mandrin Hill of Navy was selected as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

Team Notebooks

American The Eagles scored 11 second-half goals to capture their first win of the season, a 14-10 decision over Stony Brook on Saturday. Trailing 7-3 at halftime, Emily Stankiewicz netted a hat trick in the second frame and Lauren Schoenberger added a pair to fuel the Eagles’ comeback. Now 1-3 after four consecutive road games to open the season, American hosts its next three games, including the home opener against Richmond on Wednesday. On Saturday, the Eagles entertain Old Dominion, a team receiving votes in this week’s InsideLacrosse.com poll.

Bucknell The Bison dropped to 1-3 last week with road losses at Wagner (12-11) and Robert Morris (10-8). Julia Braun leads the team with 10 goals, 11 points and 10 ground balls. One noticeable statistic Bucknell hopes to change in the near future is first-half scoring. The Bison are being outscored by their opponents, 31-11, in the first 30 minutes of games. Bucknell has been recovering in the second half, where they hold an 18-13 edge in scoring. The Bison are on the road Wednesday to battle Columbia before playing their next four at home.

Colgate Now sitting at 1-2, the Raiders have dropped consecutive contests to nationally-ranked opponents. No. 12/14 Penn State scored the first four goals of the game and never looked back as they defeated Colgate, 17-7, on Saturday in Happy Valley. Courtney Miller picked up three goals and Meghan Lawler and Colleen Bubnack each had three points in the loss. The schedule gets no easier for Colgate, who will play its home opener Wednesday against Cornell, ranked 20th in the country by InsideLacrosse.com. Then the Raiders hit the road Saturday to visit No. 14/19 New Hampshire.

Holy Cross Ali Baird scored twice but the Crusaders came up short, 8-5, at Yale on Saturday. Now 0-3, Holy Cross travels to Denver, Colo. for two contests, including a neutral-site tilt Wednesday against Mount St. Mary’s and a road game Saturday at Denver. Amy Martin has played all three games in net, making 32 saves with a .492 save percentage and a goals-against average of 11.00. Kat Sutton extended her goal-scoring streak to 15 games in the Yale loss.

Lafayette The Leopards dropped to 0-2 after a 12-8 loss to Temple on Saturday in Easton. The Leopards trailed 6-5 at halftime and tied the game 18 seconds into the second half, but Temple rallied to score the next three, including the eventual game winner off the stick of Stephanie Markunas. Lafayette plays its next two games on the road, at Marist Wednesday and visiting La Salle Saturday. Last season, the Leopards defeated La Salle, 12-11, in Easton in four overtimes.

Lehigh Lauren Murray’s goal with five seconds remaining in the game capped a come-from-behind victory as the Mountain Hawks moved to 2-0 with an 11-10 victory at Delaware on Saturday. Down 10-6 with 20 minutes left, Lehigh rallied and Allison Thomas tied the game with 4:34 remaining. Thomas now leads the Mountain Hawks in points with eight, while Lauren Dykstra has the team-lead in goals with seven. Lehigh is back on the road Saturday at St. Joseph’s, before returning home Tuesday for a contest against LeMoyne.

Navy The Mids moved to 5-0 with a 14-7 win at Davidson Saturday in the team’s first road game of the season. Davidson jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the game’s opening 8:53, but Navy held a 7-6 halftime lead and scored seven of the contest’s last eight goals to clinch the victory. Lauren Dykstra led all scorers with six goals and three assists for nine points, while Elaina Ponchione picked up the win in net. The Midshipmen open a three-game home stand Friday versus Monmouth.