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News Release

Women’s Lacrosse Begins Four-Game Home Stand Against Howard Saturday Night

4/4/2008

Ashley Lancer scored her first goal of the season against Stony Brook.

BALTIMORE—The UMBC women’s lacrosse team (3-9, 2-3 AEC) opens a four-game season-ending home stand Saturday night when the Howard Bison (1-5) visit UMBC Stadium at 7:30 p.m. in non-conference action. After snapping a seven-game losing streak on Wednesday, the Retrievers look for back-to-back wins for the first time since the end of February.

Last Time Out: Senior attack Ali Levendusky (Baldwin, Md./John Carroll) tied her career high with six goals to lead the Retrievers to their first win in more than a month with a 17-11 victory over America East rival Stony Brook Wednesday afternoon at LaValle Stadium. UMBC led from the start, scoring the game’s first two goals. Levendusky tallied three times in the first 15 minutes to lead the Retrievers to a 4-1 advantage before the Seawolves scored back-to-back goals to trim its deficit to one. But UMBC tallied four of the final five goals of the first half to take an 8-4 halftime lead and opened the second period with a 3-0 run. After three straight Stony Brook goals over a span of 5:30 pulled the Seawolves to within three at 11-8, the Retrievers used a 5-0 surge to open a game-high eight-goal lead, 16-8, with 6:14 remaining. Sophomore midfielder Kelly Burgoyne (Sykesville, Md./Century) posted her first career hat trick.

Who’s Up Next: The Retrievers finish the regular season with three ranked opponents, beginning Wednesday with No. 14 Johns Hopkins. No. 13 Yale and No. 11 Boston University will also visit UMBC Stadium in the next two weeks.

On the Bison: Howard is 1-5 under first-year head coach Jamie McGettigan and coming off its second straight loss, a 22-6 defeat at the hands of Canisius on March 22. Midfielder Alannah Webb posted a hat trick to lead the Bison in the contest. Attack Sakita Holley leads Howard with 23 goals and 25 points on the season, while Webb is tops with 18 ground balls. Goalie Bianca Lamar boasts a 16.50 goals-against average and has made 67 saves on the season. Howard has been outscored, 99-66, on the season. The Bison’s only victory was an 18-5 triumph of St. Francis (Pa.) on March 12.

Last Time vs. the Bison: The Retrievers scored seven times in the first 9:13 and opened the 2007 season with a 23-7 rout of Howard. Eleven Retrievers posted multiple points in the game, led by Ali Levendusky, who scored two goals and added four assists. Kelly Fahey added two goals and three assists, while three Retrievers – Abbey Swift (Baltimore, Md./Towson), Amanda Gable (Mount Airy, Md./Glenelg) and Natalie Cullers (Edgewater, Md./South River) – led the goal-scoring parade with three each. Howard’s Iram Abdullah led all scorers with five goals, while goalie Bianca Lamar made 19 saves.

UMBC vs. Howard All-Time: The Retrievers are 2-0 all-time against the Bison in a young series that dates to 2006. UMBC has outscored Howard, 46-18, in the two games, both played at UMBC Stadium. Senior attack Ali Levendusky has scored 12 points on five goals and seven assists in her career against the Bison, while senior attack Meghan Keelan (Randallstown, Md./Mount de Sales) has posted 10 points on five goals and five assists in the two games.

Hat Tricks for Levendusky: Senior attack Ali Levendusky has scored three or more goals in 10 of UMBC’s 12 games this season, including a career-high six on two occasions – at Binghamton on Feb. 29 and at Stony Brook on April 2. Her 39 goals on the season are tied with former teammate Kelly Fiorani (2006) for the 12th-highest single-season total in UMBC history. She is two shy of her career best of 41 goals, which she set in 2006; that total is the 10th-highest in a single season at UMBC.

UMBC Single-Season Goals

1. Heather Kormanik, 1998      54

2. Debbie Krastel, 1999           53

3. Laura Robinson, 1984          51

4. Wendy Heald, 1983             49

5. Alison Zaetz, 1994               48

6. Renee Tirocchi, 2001           47

    Alison Zaetz, 1993               47

    Robi Tamargo, 1983            47

9. Ashley Staines, 2000            43

10. Ali Levendusky, 2006      41

11. Jamie Gerhart, 2002           40

12. Kelly Fiorani, 2006             39

      Ali Levendusky, 2008      39

Climbing the Charts: Senior attack Ali Levendusky scored her 100th career goal at Binghamton on Feb. 29, making her just the 15th Retriever to reach that milestone, and she currently ranks seventh all-time at UMBC with 125 career goals. In addition, she became the 11th Retriever ever to reach the 150-point plateau against Cal-Berkeley on March 30, and she is currently tied with Jackie Seboda for eighth all-time with 158 career points.

UMBC Career Goals

1. Lauren Robinson         192      1984-87

2. Alison Zaetz                158      1993-96

3. Kelly Fiorani                140      2003-06

4. Jackie Abendschoen    132      1985-88

5. Laurie Linnell               129      1984-87

6. Debbie Krastel            127      1996-99

7. Ali Levendusky         125      2005-Pres.

8. Jen Dragoni                 123      2001-04

9. Jamie Gerhart              120      1999-2002

10. Jackie Seboda           115      1987-90

UMBC Career Points

1. Laura Robinson           248      1984-87

2. Alison Zaetz                191      1993-96

3. Kelly Fiorani                189      2003-06

4. Laurie Linnell               187      1984-87

5. Jen Dragoni                 186      2001-04

6. Jackie Abendschoen    182      1985-89

7. Jamie Gerhart              173      1999-2002

8. Jackie Seboda             158      1987-90

    Ali Levendusky         158      2005-Pres.

10. Jenny Held                153      1990-93

Active Leaders: Senior Attack Ali Levendusky is the America East Conference’s active leading scorer with 125 goals and 158 points in her career. She is the only player in the league with at least 100 career goals, and Vermont’s Kristen Millar is the only other player with at least 150 points (155). Levendusky also ranks 17th in the nation in career goals and 22nd in career points among active players.

Victory At Last: UMBC’s 17-11 win over Stony Brook on Wednesday snapped a seven-game losing streak which spanned the entire month of March. The Retrievers’ last victory was Feb. 29 at Binghamton.

Fabulous Freshmen: Five UMBC freshmen have combined to score 19 goals and 27 points this season, led by midfielders Amanda Pappas (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) and Megan Linkous (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) and attack Erika Braerman (Fallston, Md./Fallston). Pappas’ eight goals and nine points are tops among the Retrievers’ first-year players, while Braerman has posted eight points on four goals and four assists and Linkous boasts five goals and seven points. Linkous also leads the team with 22 ground balls. She and midfielder Kristen Milligan (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) have started every game which they have played, while Pappas and defender C.J. Durham (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) have also earned starting roles as the season progressed.

Taking on the Best: UMBC will face six teams in 2008 that were ranked in the top 20 in the most recent IWLCA/Under Armour National Poll, including No. 11 Boston University (April 19), No. 13 Yale (April 13), No. 14(t) Johns Hopkins (April 9), No. 14(t) New Hampshire (March 22), No. 17 Vanderbilt (Feb. 22) and No. 20 Towson (March 15). In the current Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, Boston U. was ranked 11th, Yale 13th, New Hampshire 14th, Johns Hopkins 15th and Vanderbilt 17th, while Towson and Delaware (March 10) received votes. Vanderbilt, Yale, Boston U., Johns Hopkins and Hofstra (Feb. 17) all advanced to the 2007 NCAA Tournament.

UMBC Picked Fourth: The UMBC women’s lacrosse team was predicted to finish in a tie for fourth place in the America East standings, according to a vote of the league’s head coaches. Both the Retrievers and Albany received 19 points apiece in the America East Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Three-time defending champion Boston University is the preseason favorite to win its fourth straight league title. The Terriers received four first-place votes and 35 total points. New Hampshire and Stony Brook each received one first place vote, but the Wildcats edged the Seawolves in the preseason standings, 29 points to 27. UMBC (19), Albany (19), Vermont (11) and Binghamton (6) round out the seven-team poll. The top four teams in the conference will advance to the America East Championships April 25-27. The Retrievers look to return to the America East Tournament after missing the postseason for the first time since UMBC joined the league in 2004. At 2-3, they are currently in fifth place behind Boston U. (3-0), New Hampshire (2-0), Vermont (2-1) and Albany (1-1).

Dawg Bites: UMBC’s win over Stony Brook on Wednesday was its fifth straight over the Seawolves, as they have never lost to their America East rival… The Retrievers’ 17 goals against Stony Brook are a season high and their most since an 18-3 victory over Binghamton on April 7, 2007… A total of 16 different Retrievers have scored at least one point this season with five in double figures, and 15 have scored at least one goal… Senior attack Meghan Keelan leads the Retrievers with 12 assists, while senior attack Ali Levendusky has posted a team-best 21 draw controls, and senior midfielder Maggie Chizmar (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) is tops with 12 caused turnovers… UMBC defeated Loyola on Feb. 26 for the first time in 34 years dating to 1974, during which time the Retrievers had lost 22 straight games to the Greyhounds, including each of the last nine years.