March 25, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 15 Penn State women's lacrosse team (4-4, 0-1 ALC) will travel south to Williamsburg, Va. this weekend to face William & Mary (4-4) in a 1 p.m. match-up on Sat., March 28 at Albert-Daly Field.
Last weekend, the Nittany Lions dropped their ALC season opener to No. 11 Vanderbilt, 12-7, at Bigler Field. Sophomore Laura Lesnick (Jarrettsville, Md.) and senior Marisa Lozano (Pittsburgh, Pa.) once again combined to headline the Penn State attack. Lesnick netted two goals, giving her 11 for the season, while Lozano pushed her team-high goal total to 13 and took over the assists lead with nine by notching two. On defense, sophomore Maggie Dunbar (Cockeysville, Md.) was all over the field, tallying single game career highs in draw controls (6), caused turnovers (4), and ground balls (4).
Through the midpoint of the season, Penn State is among the conference and national leaders in several statistical categories, both as a team and individually. The Nittany Lions rank first in the ALC and seventh nationally in ground balls (25 per game) and second in the conference caused turnovers (16th nationally, 11 per game) and in team defense (5th nationally, 7.88 goals per game). Junior goalkeeper Stephanie Ellis (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) is ranked eighth in the NCAA in goals against average (7.88) and junior defender Margo Josephs (Reisterstown, Md.) is first in the ALC and sixth in the country caused turnovers per game (2.50)
William & Mary's season has unfolded much like Penn State's, marked by four dominating wins and four losses to ranked teams, two of which came in overtime to top 10 squads Boston University and Duke. In its last outing, the Tribe exploded for 19 goals in a rout of Richmond. The William & Mary attack is spearheaded by the quartet of Ashley Holofcener (15 goals, 17 assists), Grace Golden (18 goals, 5 assists), Mary Zulty (19 goals, 3 assists), and Clare Dennis (18 goals, 4 assists). Headlining the defense is Sara Jonson, the team leader in caused turnovers (18) and ground balls (22). Starting goalkeeper Emily Geary owns a 11.93 goals against average and a .462 save percentage.
Penn State holds a 21-7-1 record in its all-time series with William & Mary. The Lions have taken the previous two meetings, including last season's 18-12 victory in Holuba Hall, and are 5-3 versus the Tribe under head coach Suzanne Isidor.
Fans can follow all of the action of the Penn State-William & Mary match-up on the Internet with live stats and instant scoring updates. Find a link on the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.
Next weekend, the Nittany Lions have the daunting task of taking on two of the nation's top teams at the ALC/ACC Challenge in Columbus, Ohio. Hosted by Ohio State at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Penn State will meet No. 2 Maryland (8-0) on Fri., April 3 at 5 p.m. and No. 4 North Carolina (7-2) on Sun., April 5 at 11 a.m. At the 2008 ALC/ACC Challenge in Chapel Hill, N.C., the Lions fell to the Terrapins, 12-11, in overtime, and dropped a 14-9 decision to the host Tar Heels. Penn State is a combined 17-38-1 all-time versus Maryland and UNC.