The Opening DrawThe University at Albany (6-3, 1-0 America
East) will head down to Stony Brook, N.Y. to face the 13/13 ranked Seawolves
(9-2, 1-0 America East) for first place in the America East Conference on
Saturday, March 30 at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. These two teams last met in
the conference finals on May 5, 2012 at Nickerson Field. The Great Danes
finished on top in a thrilling 9-7 contest. UAlbany has a slight lead in the
all-time series, 7-5.
Scouting
the Seawolves• Stony Brook is having its way against its
opponents through the first ten games. The Seawolves have begun the season 8-2
and have held opponents to five goals or less eight times.
• Senior
midfielder Demmianne Cook and senior attack Claire Petersen have paved the way
for the offense, combining for 104 points, 69 goals and 35 assists. Cook is tops
in the nation in goals per game with 4.7 and Petersen is second in the nation in
assists per game with 3.4.
• Frankie
Cardi, a junior, has started all ten games between the pipes. She leads the
nation in goals-against average (5.35) and save percentage
(.543).
• The
Seawolves boast the nations’ best defense, holding opponents to 5.3 goals per
game and second in the nation on offense, scoring 16.0 goals
per
game.
Approaching
The Century Mark
• Senior
attack Rachael Burek and junior midfielder Ariana
Parker are looking to become the ninth and tenth Great Danes all-time
to reach the 100-goal plateau.
• Parker
currently has 96 goals through 46 games and Burek has 91 goals through 58
games.
Bowles
Blasting Through
•
Redshirt-freshman midfielder Rachel Bowles started the 2013
season with a bang in the season opener against No. 3 Florida on Sunday, Feb.
24. Bowles tallied a team-best four goals, shooting an impressive 80 percent
(4-5) on the offensive end.
• The
Cicero, N.Y. native has earned three of the six America East Conference Rookie
of the Week so far this season.
•Most
recently, Bowles led the Great Danes with 12 goals over a three-game span. She
scored three goals against Manhattan, a career-best five against George Mason
and four in a loss at No. 14 Cornell.
Lennon
Leads the Defense• Junior Kathleen Lennon
earned the Defensive Player of the Week honor on Monday, March 18 after
recording 23 draw controls over three games.
• Lennon
tied a career-high with 12 draw controls against George Mason. Against Mahattan,
the midfielder had eight ground balls, five draw controls and a career-best
seven caused turnovers. She leads the conference with 91 draw controls this
season.
Accurate
Shooters• The Great Danes lead the conference in shot
percentage in 2013. UAlbany has had a strong shot selection, scoring 130 goals
off 249 shots (.522 percentage). New Hampshire is a distant second with a .488
shooting percentage.
100-Point
Plateau• With her five-point performance, one goal and four
assists, against Manhattan on Monday, March 11, senior attack Rachael
Burek surpassed the 100-point mark for her career at UAlbany. She
became the 16th player in program history to accomplish the feat.
Let
Conference Play Begin• The Great Danes kicked off the America
East conference season on Sunday, March 24. They defeated New Hampshire, 11-6,
and improved to 6-5 in conference openers. The Great Danes will look to improve
on a 3-3 record from last season and three-peat as conference
champions.
Burek’s
Back
• Falling
early in the season-opener to a minor injury, Rachael Burek came back strong
against Bryant on Saturday, Mar. 2. Burek recorded the second-most points for a
single game in program history with nine, six goals and three
assists.
• The
nine-point performance garnered the America East Conference Player of the
Week.
Great
Start For Great Dane Head Coach• Third-year head coach
John Battaglino has begun his career at UAlbany in impressive
fashion. In just over two seasons, Battaglino has tallied a record of 34-10
overall and 9-3 in conference play.
• Battaglino
has won back-to-back America East Conference Tournament championships and has
gone to the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons as well.
• Coach
Battaglino looks to become just the third head coach in conference history to
win three-straight conference tournament championships. University of Delaware’s
Denise Wescott (1997-99) and Boston University’s Liz Robertshaw (2008-10) were
the previous two to accomplish the feat.
• In just
his first season as head coach, he was able to grab a win in the NCAA Tournament
against Dartmouth in the first round, 10-7, on May 15, 2011.
• Following
an 18-1 record in the 2011 season, he was named as Inside Women’s Lacrosse
Coaches Assocation (IWLCA) Northeast Region Division I Coach of the
Year.
All-Purpose
Parker• Junior midfielder Ariana Parker has
been scoring goals since her freshman stint. Parker has tallied 96 goals in 46
career games at UAlbany.
• Her 96
goals have landed her 11th all-time at UAlbany in scoring. If she continues this
pace in the next two season, Parker could land in the top-3 all-time at
UAlbany.
• Not only
is she responsible for scoring this season, but play a physical defensive game
as well. Parker has been directed to cover the opposing team’s best player. In
response, the Port Ewen, N.Y. native is second on the team in both groundballs
(16) and caused turnovers (15).
Successful
Switch• Senior midfielder Jess Antelmi has
found great success in last season’s switch from defense to midfield, due to her
teammates falling to injury.
• Before the
switch, Antelmi recorded just three goals in 19 games. Following the switch, the
Bridgeport, N.Y. native tallied career-bests in goals (29), assists (26) and
points (55) in 2012.
• Her 26
assists and 55 points were both team-bests last season.
• Antelmi
has recorded 22 points, 17 goals and five assists, through nine games this
season.
Preseason
Recognition• Following a conference tournament championship and
a NCAA Tournament appearance, UAlbany was recognized by both the coaches and
media in the preseason polls. The Great Danes were receiving votes in both polls
to begin the season
• UAlbany
has been ranked as high as 8th, which was during the 2011 season. Last season
the Great Danes were recognized as high as 13th.
"The
Berman Wall"• Junior goalkeeper Anna Berman
will look to build upon her previous success in both her career wins
and saves. Berman currently stands sixth in saves (237) and her 36 victories put
her first all-time at UAlbany.
• Berman
recorded her 200th save in the victory over Niagara on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at
John Fallon Field .
The
Watch List• Great Dane midfielder Ariana Parker is being
watched by the lacrosse world, following two successful seasons at
UAlbany.
• Parker was
named to 2013 Inside Lacrosse’s Preseason All-American team and the Tewaaraton
Award Watch list (equivalent to the Heisman in college football).
Preseason
Conference Poll Prediction• In the 2013 America East Conference
Preseason Poll, which was voted on by the conference coaches, the University at
Albany was picked to finish in a tie for second with Boston Univeristy. The
Great Danes received two first-place votes.
• Stony
Brook, the 2012 conference tournament runner-up, was chosen as the favorite to
win the league. The Seawolves received 33 total votes and three first-place
votes.
• Four of
the seven total teams in the conference received first-place votes. Stony Brook
(3), UAlbany (2), Boston U. (1) and UMBC (1).
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