UAlbany Travels East For A Mid-Week Contest Against Boston U.

The Opening Draw The University at Albany (6-4, 1-1 America East) continues its two-game road trip on Wednesday, April 3 against Boston University (3-5, 0-1 America East) at Nickerson Field. This is the 16th meeting between BU and UAlbany with the first draw control slated at 4 p.m. The Terriers own the all-time series, 12-3.   Scouting the Terriers• Boston U. has scheduled one of the hardest non-conference schedules in the conference and have come out with good results. Through eight games, the Terriers are 3-5 and have faced four teams ranked in the Top-15. • BU recorded wins over two ranked opponents this season, No. 14 UMass (9-8 OT) and No. 15 Ohio State (16-11). • Midfielder Danielle Etrasco leads the offensive attack with 25 goals and 10 assists. She is a Tewaaraton Award Nominee and a member of Team USA. • Goalie Christina Sheridan has logged over 491 minutes, recorded 83 saves, and has allowed just over 10 goals a game (10.85). • The Terriers defense has been a strong point and boast a conference-best 91 caused turnovers. The 144 groundballs is third in conference behind Vermont’s 210 and Stony Brook’s 239.   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, the University at Albany 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).