HOBOKEN, N.J. (May 1, 2015) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team begins its quest for its third Empire 8 Conference title as they travel to Nazareth College for the Empire 8 Conference Championship tournament this weekend.
The Ducks are12-4, including a 6-2 mark in conference play and have won four of their last five contests.
THE FIELD In the first matchup on Saturday, No. 1 Nazareth takes on No. 4 Ithaca College at 11 a.m., while the second game sees second seeded St. John Fisher takes on third seeded Stevens at 1:30 p.m. The two winners will square off for the right to head to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday with first draw noon.
HEAD TO HEAD The Ducks went 1-2 against the three other clubs in the tournament, falling to Fisher 11-7 and Nazareth 13-12 in overtime. They knocked off Ithaca in a double overtime thriller 14-13 back on April 4, the first win against the Bombers since 2011.
D IS KEY The defense has been a big part of why the Ducks have recorded 12 victories, holding opponents to a shade under eight goals per game which leads the conference and is top-35 nationally. Senior
Amanda Ingersoll, sophomores
Madison Annitto and
Betsy Crossland, and freshman
Victoria Alvarez play key roles on the back end. Alvarez is tasked with shutting the down the opponents main offensive weapons, and has succeeded in holding several top scorers to just one goal.
STRONG OFFENSE Junior
Erika Wilcox has put together a fantastic season, leading the E8 in goals (58) and points (76) and is sixth in assists (18). She has scored one goal in every contest, and has recorded multiple point efforts in every game this season. Sophomore
Kathleen Kalbian is tops in the conference in draw controls (74) and fifth in assists (21).
FRESHMEN MAKE THEIR MARK In addition to Wilcox and Kalbian, freshmen
Cami Santor and
Julianna Ricci have played big roles in the offensive third of the field. Santor has notched 20 goals while chipping in14 assists from the attack position. Ricci has been well-rounded as a midfielder, tallying 24 goals while also helping on the defensive end. She is third in the conference in both ground balls (53) and caused turnovers (27).
COACHES WORDS "The team accomplished many of the goals we set for ourselves this season, but we still have a few more we want to accomplish this weekend," said Head Coach
Celine Cunningham. "The team gave a great effort this season, every game and practice someone else stepped up to make everyone else better."
WHERE TO WATCH Live stats and video will be available on stevensducks.com
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