Feb. 29, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy women's lacrosse team returns to the field for a Saturday afternoon contest against Niagara at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The game is slated to begin at noon and admission is free to all Navy women's lacrosse home games. The Mids are 1-0 following a win last weekend over Longwood in the first Division I game in program history, while Saturday's contest marks the season opener for Niagara.

The Mids were impressive in their first game as a Division I team, routing Longwood last Saturday, 21-10. Navy jumped out to a 13-8 halftime lead, then clamped down defensively in the second, limiting the Lancers to just two goals and forcing eight Longwood turnovers en route to the easy win. Six different players tallied at least three points each, led by sophomore Erin Rawlick's seven points (5 g, 2 a). Freshman Meg Decker (4 g, 1 a) and senior Amanda Towey (1 g, 4 a) tallied five points each, while sophomore Mary Ruttum (4 g) and freshman Katrina Nietsch (3 g, 1 a) netted four points each. Senior Kaylene Klingenstein recorded a hat trick. Freshmen and sophomore accounted for 20 points on 16 goals and four assists for the afternoon.

The Navy defense, meanwhile, turned in a strong effort, led by senior goalie Natalie Blandon. She earned Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week accolades after stopping nine shots, including six in the decisive second half, to go along with three ground balls. Blandon also helped Navy convert on 10-of-12 clears, an area that Navy head coach Cindy Timchal was concerned about entering the season. Navy limited Longwood to 27 total shots and forced the Lancers into 19 turnovers. Navy also dominated the draw control (20-13) and ground ball statistics (29-20), setting up the Mids' high-powered offense.

The contest will be Niagara's first of the season, after recording a 1-12 record a year ago. The Purple Eagles were picked to finish seventh in the MAAC preseason poll released a couple of weeks ago. Emma-Lee Harrison is Niagara's top returning scorer with 31 points (25 g, 6 a) from a year ago, while junior Vanessa Schultz added 20 points (17 g, 3 a). Niagara returns no experienced goalie from last year's roster.

It will be the first meeting between the two teams.

Navy will be back in action on Tuesday, March 4 at 4:00 pm, when it hosts St. Francis (Pa.) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The game was previously scheduled to be Navy's first game of the year on Feb. 19, but injuries and lack of healthy players forced St. Francis to postpone the game to March 4.

# GO NAVY #