March 6, 2008

Game Notes

Washington, D.C. - The No. 9 ranked Georgetown University women's lacrosse team (4-0, 1-0 BE) plays at No. 12 Johns Hopkins (1-2, 0-0 ALC) on Friday afternoon, March 7 on Homewood Field in Baltimore. The first draw control is set for 4 p.m. ESPNU will be televising the game with Quint Kessenich and Lindsay Biles calling the action. Live stats will be available at www.guhoyas.com

The Hoyas will be looking to start the season 5-0 for the first time under fourth-year head coach Ricky Fried. GU has started 4-0 two times under Fried (2005, 2006).

The Hoyas and Blue Jays have squared off in each of the last three seasons.

Georgetown has four players on the roster that call Baltimore home (Kirr, Hilbush, Seats, Wolock).

Schedule Strength ...The Hoyas have a strength of schedule ranked No. 1 by www.laxpower.com. Hopkins is ranked No. 2 through the early going of the season. Georgetown is scheduled to square off with eight teams that were ranked in the Inside Lacrosse top 20 preseason poll.

Series with Hopkins ...Hopkins leads the all-time series, 6-5 but the Hoyas have won two straight. GU is 1-4 all-time here in Baltimore. GU fourth-year head coach Ricky Fried was an assistant coach at Hopkins for nine seasons prior to his arrival as an assistant at Georgetown.

Georgetown assistant coach Erin (Wellner) Hellmold is a 2002 graduate of Hopkins where she still ranks among the Blue Jay leaders in career goals, assists and points.

Quick Hits ... The Hoyas graduated 10 players from last season's team and 62 percent of its scoring output, including All Americans, attacker Coco Stanwick and goalie Maggie Koch.

-- Georgetown saw six players make their first career starts over the first two games of the season, including sophomore GK Caitlin Formby.

-- 47 of the team's 53 goals have been scored by underclassmen.

-- The Hoya freshman class, the class of 2011 was the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the nation according to Inside Lacrosse Magazine. Seven of the 11 players were Under Armour All Americans.

-- Backup goalie Lauren Thomas has seen action in two games. Thomas came off the bench, playing the final 7:35 in the season opeing win at GW, making three saves, including two in the final 32 seconds as the Hoyas held on for a win over the Colonials.

-- Georgetown raced out to a 9-1 lead in both the Mason and Loyola (Md.) games. The Hoyas have outscored their opponents, 50-26 in the first half.

Ashby Kaestner Making an Impact ... Sophomore midfielder Ashby Kaestner has stormed out of the gate thus far. In her first four career starts, Kaestner is leading the team with 16 goals. She has four straight multi-goal games and posted a career-high six goals in the season-opening win at GW. Fourteen of her 20 goals have come in the second half of games and she netted the game-winning goal at GW and at No. 15 Denver.

Kaestner was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week on Feb. 5 after tallying 11 goals in the season's first two games, surpassing the 10 goals she netted during her entire freshman season.

Built Molly Ford Tough ...Sophomore attacker Molly Ford leads the team with 21 points on 15 goals and six assists. Fordhas at least three goals in all four games this season.

Ford was named BIG EAST Offensive player of the Week on Monday after totaling five goals on seven shots in the Hoyas's 14-7 win against No.17 George Mason.

Jordy Jumpstarting the Offense ...Freshman Jordy Kirr has started in three of the first four games and handed out 14 assists already.

Kirr, who was highly-touted coming out of high school, ranks second on the team with 19 points.

Showing Her Form-by... Sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Formby has started in all four games thus far after playing behind All-American Maggie Koch last season.

Formby saw just 5:29 worth of playing time as a freshman but has posted a 7.98 goals-against-average as a sophomore while starting in every game.

Formby is averaging better than six saves per game and in both of the Mason and Loyola (Md.) games, the Towson native yielded just one goal in the first half.

Formby made a career-high 10 saves last time out at Denver.

Preseason Accolades ... Senior midfielder Patty Piotrowicz and junior defender were named to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team.

Piotrowicz earned All-BIG EAST second team honors last season as a junior after leading the team with 31 ground balls. She started in every game in 2006 and 2007 and in all four games this season, Piotrowicz had three goals, an assist and ranks second on the team with nine draws.

Trautman has started in every game since her arrival on the Hilltop, a stretch of 40 games. Trautman saw the majority of her time at midfield as a freshman in 2006. Last season, the Mystic, Conn. native moved the defensive line when injuries hampered the Hoyas.

Trautman leads the team with 11 draw controls so far and while anchoring the back line.

Team Captains ... Seniors Zan Morley and Patty Piotrowicz and junior Bridget Noon was named team captains prior to the season.

Winning After a Loss ... Before last season, the Hoyas had never lost consecutive games under third year head coach Ricky Fried (7-0). Last season, Georgetown dropped back-to-back games three times, at No. 2 North Carolina and vs. No. 3 Maryland - at No. 5 Virginia and at No. 11 Notre Dame - vs Syracuse (BE Tourney Finals) and at Princeton.

The Hoyas are 9-3 under Fried in games following a loss since Fried's tenure began in 2005.

In Nailbiters ... Georgetown is 6-2 in overtime games under head coach Ricky Fried. The Hoyas won last time out, a 12-11 OT thriller at No. 15 Denver, a game that saw the Hoyas hold the lead just two times - 11-10 and 12-11.