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News Release

Women’s Lacrosse Hosts Stony Brook in America East Opener Saturday

3/20/2009

Sarah Willis leads the team with 16 ground balls on the season.

BALTIMORE—The UMBC women’s lacrosse team (4-4) opens America East Conference play this weekend when it hosts Stony Brook (3-6) on Saturday at 4 p.m. at UMBC Stadium.

Last Time Out: Senior midfielder Kara Dorr (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) tied her career high with six points on five goals and an assist, and sophomore midfielder Amanda Pappas (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) notched her third hat trick of the season while also matching her career best with four points in a 20-6 rout of Iona Tuesday afternoon at UMBC Stadium. Down 2-1 after 3:26 of play, the Retrievers rattled off six straight goals and 13 of 14 to take a 14-3 lead at intermission. UMBC made it 11 in a row and 17 of 18 with the first four goals of the second half. In all, 12 different Retrievers scored at least one goal. Junior goalie Kate Quick (Phoenix, Md./Maryvale Prep) and senior Susie Sweeney (Madison, N.J./Madison) each played 30 minutes and combined for nine saves.

Who’s Up Next: UMBC hits the road for the first time this month when they head to cross-town rival Johns Hopkins for a 4 p.m. matchup at Homewood Field. The Retrievers will play five of their final eight games away from UMBC Stadium.

On the Seawolves: Stony Brook is 3-6 on the season after a 22-13 loss to Denver on Wednesday. Midfielder Kaitlin Leggio tallied six points on four goals and two assists. She tied Stony Brook’s school record for career points with 224. Attack Courtney Bertolone also scored four goals in the loss. Goalie Mickey Cahill played the majority of the game in the cage and made nine saves. Leggio leads the Seawolves in almost every statistical category, including goals (24), points (36), ground balls (27), draw controls (28) and caused turnovers (11). Midfielder Amy Hallion owns the team lead in assists with 13, but Leggio is right behind her with 12. Cahill has posted a 13.42 GAA and a .491 save percentage this season. Stony Brook was picked to finish fifth in the America East preseason poll.

Last Time vs. the Seawolves: UMBC defeated Stony Brook, 17-11, last season at LaValle Stadium. UMBC attack Ali Levendusky tied her career high with six goals, and midfielder Kelly Burgoyne posted her first career hat trick. The Retrievers led from the start and held an 8-4 halftime advantage. Stony Brook attack Diana Caroleo led the Seawolves with six goals.

UMBC vs. Stony Brook All-Time: The Retrievers have never lost to the Seawolves in five all-time meetings. As America East rivals, the teams have met every year since 2004, UMBC’s first season in the league.

20/20: When the Retrievers scored 20 goals against Holy Cross on March 6, it was the most goals they had scored in a game since a 23-7 victory over Howard on Feb. 17, 2007. UMBC then scored 20 goals against Iona on March 17, marking the first time the Retrievers scored 20 or more goals twice in the same season since 2006, when they scored 23 against Howard and Vermont.

Milestone Watch: Dorr needs just three points to reach the 100-point plateau for her career. She is on pace to reach the milestone on Saturday against the Seawolves, as she is averaging a team-best 3.0 points per game this season.

Taking on the Best: UMBC will face four teams this season that were ranked in the top 20 in the most recent IWLCA Coaches’ Poll, including No. 11 Vanderbilt (Feb. 21), No. 12 Boston University (April 25), No. 13 New Hampshire (April 4) and No. 20 Loyola (Feb. 25). In addition, Towson (March 3) received votes in the poll.

Underclassmen on Top: Five of UMBC’s top six scorers this season are freshmen or sophomores. Freshman attack Emily Coady (Westminster, Md./Westminster) ranks second with 20 points, followed by freshman midfielder Bria Phillips (Davidsonville, Md./Coronado (Calif.)) with 16, sophomore midfielder Amanda Pappas (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) with 15 and sophomore attacks Ashley Stodter (Silver Spring, Md./Good Counsel) and Erika Brareman (Fallston, Md./Fallston) with 13 points apiece. In addition, Coady leads the Retrievers with nine assists, while sophomore defender C.J. Durham (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) is tops on the team with 13 caused turnovers. Stodter and Pappas also rank second and third in draw controls with 15 and 11, respectively.