April 23, 2003

It was a seemingly innocent final score on the first weekend of League play. American posted a 10-5 victory over visiting Colgate. Both teams had played in the 2002 Patriot League Tournament and were selected by the League's coaches and SIDs to earn a berth in the 2003 championship.

Six weeks later, the teams finished the regular-season with 5-1 League records and tied for the regular-season title. That March 8 decision score proved to be the difference between hosting the 2003 PL Tournament as the top seed, or driving several hours to play a semifinal match as the No. 2 seed on a neutral site.

Reeves Field in Washington, D.C., will be the site when American (9-5 overall), Colgate (10-5), third-seeded Bucknell (7-6, 3-3 PL) and fourth-seeded Lehigh (10-3, 3-3 PL) combine for three weekend matches to determine the League's 2003 champion and automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament.

American will face Lehigh at noon Saturday in the first of two semifinal matches, followed at 3 p.m. by the Colgate vs. Bucknell showdown. Saturday's winners will advance to Sunday's 1 p.m. title tilt. Lehigh (1994) and Colgate (1999) are the only teams in this year's Tournament to have previously captured a PL Women's Lacrosse team championship.

The host Eagles field the strongest attack in the PL, averaging 12.43 goals per outing and breaking the team record for most goals (174) and assists (85) in a season. Individually, sophomores Rebecca Copeland (Webster, N.Y.) and Gina Riitano (Schenectady, N.Y.) both rank among the top three in the PL in goals and points. Copeland has a team-best 38 goals and seven assists for 45 points while Riitano has contributed 32 goals, 15 assists and 47 points.

They get support on the attack from junior attack Katie Zaweski (Huntington, N.Y.), who has 29 goals and 36 points, along with senior midfielder Nadia Harmsen (Buzzards Bay, Mass.), who has 23 goals, nine helpers and recently eclipsed the century mark in both goals and points.

Zaweski also leads the PL with three game-winning goals this season. Riitano, Harmsen, and senior defender Robyn Mincher (Washington, D.C.), were All-League representatives for the Eagles in 2002.

Lehigh gained the fourth seed in the tournament with an 11-10 win at Holy Cross Monday as junior attack Emily Studdiford scored three goals and junior midfielder Meredith Carso (Easton, Md./Westminster School) added two goals and two assists in the playoff-clinching victory.

Studdiford leads the Mountain Hawks in points (33) and assists (10) while sophomore attack Kellan Van Hoesen (Cos Cob, Conn.) is setting the pace with 25 goals. Combined with the efforts of freshman goalie Kyle Begina (Windsor, Conn.), who ranks second in the PL in goals against average (8.23) and save percentage (.540), they've led the Lehigh to a six-game improvement in the wins column over last year's 4-11 overall mark.

In Saturday's other semifinal, Bucknell will have to find a way to control the League's leading goal scorer, Colgate freshman Katie McVeigh (Basking Ridge, N.J.), who has a League-leading 46 goals and 51 points this year. McVeigh has been the PL Rookie of the Week five out of six weeks this season and enters the Tournament with a string of six-straight games with at least three goals. She had four goals in CU's 9-6 regular-season triumph over Bucknell on April 12.

CU ranks second in the PL in scoring this year, averaging 10.07 goals per contest, because McVeigh is getting assistance from senior Caitlin Houck (Boyertown, Pa.) and freshman Kelly Winning (Flourtown, Pa.). Houck has scored 26 goals while Winning has 23 goals this season.

Bucknell's primary weapon to stop the CU attack is the the defensive unit led by senior goalie Nicole Kallis (Annapolis, Md.), who entered Tuesday's non-League match against Drexel leading the League in goals against average (8.07), saves per game (11.25) and save percentage (.584). Kallis entered the 2003 campaign as a three-time All-League keeper for the Bison.

On the attack, BU will look to senior returning first-team all-star Suzanne Raffaele (Springfield, Pa.), who leads the team and is among the League leaders in goals (29) and points (36), and junior Meredith Wright (Bethesda, Md.), who has contributed 22 assists in BU's first 12 matches and ranks fourth in the PL in total points (38).