March 10, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. - With the first weekend of Patriot League play in the books, Bucknell, Colgate and Navy earned their first League wins of the season, while Lehigh, American and Lafayette fell to 0-1 early in League play. With Saturday's win, Navy Head Coach Cindy Timchal collected her 352nd career coaching victory, the most career wins in NCAA lacrosse history. Student-athletes from Colgate, Bucknell and Lehigh earned Player of the Week accolades.

Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Release - 3.10.09

Offensive Player of the Week

Meghan Lawler, Colgate Jr., M, Liverpool, N.Y.

Lawler led the Raiders to an 18-6 victory over American last weekend in the Patriot League opener for both teams. The junior racked up seven points on five goals and two assists, and tallied the game-winning goal in the affair. Lawler tied her career highs in points and goals with seven and five, respectively, against the Eagles.

Defensive Player of the Week

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

Braun had a huge game in Bucknell's triple overtime, Patriot League-opening win over Lehigh with eight ground balls and eight draw controls. The eight ground balls tied the Bucknell single-game record, while the eight draw controls were the second-most in program history. The sophomore also scored her sixth goal of the season in the second half to help the Bison rally from a four-goal deficit.

Goalkeeper of the Week

Alyssa DeLorenz, Bucknell So., Garland, Texas

DeLorenz made 13 saves in Bucknell's triple overtime win at Lehigh last weekend, earning a .542 save percentage. The sophomore's biggest save came with 12 seconds left in the second overtime period, when she stopped Lauren Dykstra's free-position shot to keep the Bison alive.

Rookie of the Week

Kelly Draper, Lehigh Fr., A, Ocean Port, N.J.

Draper netted a season-best four goals and one assist for five points in Lehigh's League-opening triple overtime loss to Bucknell. The freshman also added five ground balls and two draw controls in the game. Draper leads Lehigh with ten goals and 20 points this season.

Patriot League Notebook

Patriot League Recap

With the first weekend of Patriot League play in the books, Bucknell, Colgate and Navy earned their first League wins of the season, while Lehigh, American and Lafayette fell to 0-1 early in League play. Colgate earned a convincing, 18-6 win over American in Hamilton on Saturday, while Bucknell and Lehigh butted heads in a triple overtime thriller, with the Bison coming out with the 12-11 victory. Later in the day, Navy beat Lafayette 14-9 in Annapolis. Holy Cross will open League play this weekend.

Patriot League Preview

Saturday afternoon features three Patriot League games. At noon, Holy Cross will host Colgate in the Crusaders' League opener in Worcester. Archrivals Lehigh and Lafayette will battle in Easton at 1 p.m., while Bucknell continues its road swing with a match at American, also at 1 p.m.

Timchal Rewrites the Record Books

With Saturday's win, Navy Head Coach Cindy Timchal collected her 352nd career coaching victory and moved ahead of current William Smith College Head Coach Pat Genovese for the most career wins in NCAA lacrosse history (men or women, all divisions). Her career record now stands at 352-90 (.796) in 26-plus seasons as a head coach.

2009 Patriot League Tournament

The 2009 Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Championship will once again use the two-day format that gives a day of rest in between the semifinals and the championship game for the top four teams in the Patriot League. The tournament will be held at the highest seed on Friday, April 24 and Sunday, April 26.

Team Notebooks

American American headed to Colgate last weekend for both teams' Patriot League openers, but came up short against the Raiders, 18-6. The Eagles' game against Richmond last Wednesday was postponed. American will next play at Columbia on Tuesday afternoon before hosting Bucknell in a Patriot League game on Saturday.

Bucknell The Bison are sitting at 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the Patriot League after winning a 12-11 triple overtime thriller at Lehigh on Saturday. Junior Carol Donohue scored three goals and picked up four ground balls for the Bison in the game. Bucknell will face American in Patriot League play on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Colgate The Raiders got their first Patriot League win of the season over American on Saturday, making Colgate 1-0 in League play and 3-2 overall. With the win, Sara Drexler moved into seventh place on the all-time career win list at Colgate with 19. The Raiders host Albany on Tuesday evening and will head to Worcester to play Holy Cross in Patriot League action on Saturday afternoon.

Holy Cross Freshman Kat Sutton had four draw controls in last week's 20-4 loss at UMBC. The Crusaders are now 2-3 on the season, and will open up Patriot League play on Saturday at home against Colgate.

Lafayette The Leopards are still looking to get in the win column this season after falling 18-10 at Manhattan and 14-9 at Navy. Lafayette will look for its first win of the season when it hosts archrival Lehigh in a Patriot League game on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks lost a 12-11 triple overtime heartbreaker to Bucknell on Saturday in their home Patriot League opener. Lehigh is now 2-2 overall and 0-1 in Patriot League play. The Mountain Hawks will look to earn their first League win of the season in Easton against archrival Lafayette on Saturday afternoon.

Navy With Saturday's 14-9 win over Lafayette, the Mids saw their home winning streak improve to 14 games, the second-longest active streak in the country. Navy hits the road this week, playing at Canisius on Friday afternoon and at Niagara Sunday morning.