April 24, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS
(4) Navy (13-3) at (1) American (7-9)
Friday, April 25, 2008 • 1:00 pm (ET) Jacobs Recreational Complex
Washington, D.C.

GAME PREVIEW
• The Navy women's lacrosse team looks to continue its historic run on Friday as it will compete in its first Patriot League Tournament game in school history ... the Mids (13-3 / 4-2) will battle top-seeded American (7-9 / 5-1 PL) in Washington, D.C., beginning at 1:00 pm ... the Mids tuned up for the tournament with a 19-8 victory at Villanova on Tuesday night ... American has been off since earning the top seed and the right to host with a 13-10 victory over Colgate last Saturday ... the other semifinals pits second-seeded Colgate against third-seeded Lehigh, beginning at 3:30 pm ... the two semifinal winners will battle on Sunday at 1:00 pm for the Patriot League Tournament title ... the Patriot League winner will host an NCAA Play-In Game on May 3.

ABOUT AMERICAN
•Top-seeded American, the preseason selection in a poll done by coaches and sports information directors at the start of the year, enters the tournament with a 7-9 overall record and a 5-1 mark in the Patriot League ... Navy was the lone Patriot League team to beat American, as the Mids defeated the Eagles, 13-12, on April 1 ... the Eagles are on a modest two-game winning streak that was preceded by a five-game losing streak ... Jackie Lane, a first-team All-Patriot League selection, led American with 36 goals, 17 assists and 53 points ... Lauren Askionoff added 39 points (37 g, 12 a) and three other players have scored at least 20 points ... Kristine Vida, the Patriot League goalie of the Year, owns an 11.66 GAA and a .497 save percentage in goal ... American has been outscored by its opponents, 185-171, this year and is getting outshot by almost five shots a game.

RACKING UP THE HONORS
• It didn't take long for the Navy women's lacrosse team to be recognized among the Patriot League's best ... sophomore Erin Rawlick and freshman Meg Decker were named to the All-Patriot League first team, while freshman Katrina Nietsch earned second-team accolades ... there were 10 freshmen or sophomores on the all-league teams, with three of them coming from Navy ... in addition, there were five freshmen on the all-league teams, with two of them coming from Navy.

RACKING UP THE HONORS, II
• In addition to the all-league honors, Navy was well-represented on the weekly award list ... six different players won nine different weekly awards, trailing just Lehigh's 10 weekly awards ... Meg Decker led the way with three citations while classmate Caitlin Mandrin Hill won defensive player of the week accolades in back-to-back weeks ... other Mids to win weekly awards were Erin Rawlick (POW), Mary Ruttum (POW), Natalie Blandon (GOW) and Katrina Nietsch (ROW).

HOME SWEET HOME
• Playing in what is perhaps the finest facility in the nation, Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, the Mids enjoyed a definite home-field advantage ... Navy posted an 11-0 record at home, winning the 11 games by a combined 104 goals (9.5 per game) ... Navy's 11-game home winning streak is the fourth-longest active streak in the country.

RAWLICK SETS THE PACE
• Sophomore Erin Rawlick has been a key part of Navy's transition to Division I lacrosse, and she has shown her importance all season long ... through Tuesday's game, Rawlick leads the country in goals (64) and is second in the nation in scoring with 87 points ... the 64 goals are tied for the sixth most in Patriot League history, needing just four more to move into a tie for third ... her 87 points are the fourth most in Patriot League history and she needs just two points to move into a tie for third on that list as well ... all of this is coming after a year in which she scored 127 points in Navy's final club season ... Rawlick has scored at least two goals in every game this year and has 35 points (24 g, 11 a) in the last six games ... over the last two games, Rawlick has 13 points (12 g, 1 a).

DECKER IS A HIGH-FLYING FRESHMAN
• Freshman Meg Decker has been a pleasant surprise to the Navy offensive attack, ranking second on the team with 57 goals and 70 points ... Decker has recorded a hat trick in 13 straight games ... ranks third nationally among freshmen in scoring (70) and points (57) ... was a three-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week and is one of two freshmen to be named to the All-Patriot League first team.

FAST FACTS
• Navy set an NCAA record for wins by a first-year program with 13, surpassing the 1996 North Carolina team (12).
• Navy is 12-1 when winning the draw control battle, with the lone loss coming to Davidson ... when opponents have more draw controls, the Mids are 1-2.
• Meg Decker leads the team with 15 hat tricks, including 13 straight.
• Navy is 11-0 when scoring at least 15 goals in a games.
• Navy is 13-0 when holding opponents to 0-14 goals.
• Navy is 9-1 when Erin Rawlick scores at least five points in a game ... in games when Rawlick is held to 0-4 points, the Mids are 4-2.
• Navy is 12-0 when Katrina Nietsch scores two or more goals in a game.
• Meg Decker, Erin Rawlick and Amanda Towey have scored in all 16 games this year ... Decker and Rawlick have scored a goal in every game.
• When Mary Ruttum dishes out two or more assists in a game, the Mids are 5-0.
• Navy is 11-1 when leading at halftime ... the lone loss was a 15-12 setback to Lehigh, in which Navy led 9-4 at the halftime break.
• Navy is 6-0 when Kaylene Kingenstein scores two or more points in a game.
• The Mids are 12-1 when Amanda Towey scores two or more points in a game.
• Navy has shattered the previous record (2007 Holy Cross; 240) of goals scored in a season with 268 ... Navy is averaging 16.8 goals per game, which would set a new NCAA single-season record ... Navy needs 20 more goals to move into 15th place on the all-time NCAA single-season goals scored list.
• The Mids are averaging 23.4 points per game, the fourth-highest single-season average in NCAA history.
• Lastly, Navy is averaging 17.0 draw controls per game, the second-best average in NCAA history.
• On the single-game list, Navy's 24-goal victory over St. Francis (Pa.) is the eighth-largest margin of victory in NCAA history ... the Mids' 41 points (24 g, 17 a) against St. Francis was the third-most points in a game in NCAA history, as were the 17 assists.
• Navy won 21 draw controls against Villanova, the sixth-most draw controls won in a game in NCAA history ... the Mids also record the 10th most (20) three different times (Longwood, Canisius and Lafayette).
• Navy's goals against St. Francis that were seven and eight seconds apart were the fourth and ninth-quickest consecutive goals in NCAA history.

# GO NAVY #