March 28, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy women's lacrosse team hits the road looking to secure its first road win of the Division I era with a Saturday afternoon battle at Davidson. The Mids are currently 7-1 overall and are coming off a strong 15-12 victory over Canisius on Tuesday. The contest is slated to begin at 1:00 pm in Davidson, N.C.

The Mids are a perfect 7-0 at home, but fell to Colgate, 19-10, last Saturday in the team's only road action so far this season. In Tuesday's win over Canisius, sophomore Erin Rawlick scored a school-record nine points (7 g, 2 a), while sophomore Mary Ruttum added six points (2 g, 4 a) and freshman Meg Decker tallied five points (4 g, 1 a). The Mids also got a strong performance from senior goalkeeper Natalie Blandon, who stopped a career-high 14 shots, including several from point-blank range.

Rawlick continues to lead not only the Mids, but the Patriot League as well, in scoring with 45 points (5.62 ppg), averaging almost a point per game more than Lehigh's Lauren Dykstra. Rawlick's nine points against Canisius were the third most in a single game in the country so far this year and her seven goals were the fourth-best single-game total. She is among the nation's leaders in goals (34), points (45) and points per game (5.62).

Decker, a freshman midfielder from Catonsville, Md., is second on the team with 35 points (27 g, 8 a), leads the team with 27 draw controls and is second in caused turnovers with 11. Amanda Towey (30 points), Mary Ruttum (24 points) and Katrina Nietsch (21 points) have all scored over 20 points each.

Blandon has been strong in goal for the Mids this year, posting a .451 save percentage and an 8.88 GAA. She has stopped 33 shots in the past three games.

As a team, the Mids are outscoring their foes by almost nine goals a game (17.4 to 8.6) and outshooting opponents by over 11 shots per game (32.6 to 21.1). The Mids have also won 130 draw controls to opponents' 93.

Davidson enters the contest with a 6-3 overall record and have won two games in a row and five of its last six. The Wildcats are coming off a 15-11 victory over Longwood, in which they led 10-2 at halftime. Jen Crawford and Haley Cook led a balanced Davidson attack with three goals each and six other players scored at least once. Laura Johnson stopped seven shots in goal in earning the win.

Crawford (24 g, 0 a) and Cook (19 g, 5 a) both lead Davidson with 24 points. Emily Diefendorf and Beck Horton have contributed 21 and 19 points, respectively. Laura Johnson boasts a 6-3 record in goal with an 8.93 GAA and a .521 save percentage.

As a team, Davidson outscores its opponents, 11.5 to 9.6, despite having just six more shots than its opponent.

The two teams met in Annapolis last year, when Navy was in its final year as a club team. The Wildcats won the contest, 16-6, overcoming a 2-1 Navy advantage by scoring 10 of the game's next 11 goals to blow the contest open.

The Mids will return home for a Tuesday afternoon (April 1) against Patriot League leader American, beginning at 5:00 pm. The game will be streamed online as part of the Navy All-Access package. Admission to the contest at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is free.

# GO NAVY #