By: By Joseph Feldman
Thursday, March 1
3:00 p.m. – Kennesaw State at East Carolina
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Game Preview
Kennesaw State will play its second game in a row on the road against East Carolina.
The Owls will be looking for their first victory of the 2018 season over the East Carolina Pirates.
ECU is in its first season as a program and recently got their first program victory over Gardner-Webb in overtime.
Kennesaw State Team Notes
• In
Laura Maness' first season as head coach, she led the Owls to their best season in program history finishing with eight wins after upsetting Furman in the team's final game.
• KSU returns 22 players from a season ago while welcoming 12 newcomers to the team.
• Junior
Haley Swift and senior
Connor Zophy were both named to the ASUN Preseason All-Conference Team. Swift led the team a season ago with 66 points with 37 goals and 29 assists. Zophy finished third on the team with 55 points scoring 29 goals and 26 assists. Both players set career highs with those numbers last season.
•
Siena Gore has had a great start to her career as she leads the team with 10 goals. After her four goal and six draw control performance at Marquette, she was named ASUN Player of the Week.
• Gore is not only leading KSU in several statistical categories, but she's ranked nationally as well. She is fourth in free-position goals per game averaging 2.0 and 20th winning 6.5 draw controls per game. She's also in the top 50 in goals per game and total goals.
• Despite dropping games against Vanderbilt and Marquette, Kennesaw State pushed both teams after losing by double-digit goals to both teams last season. The Owls lost by four to Vandy and five to Marquette.
• KSU and Vanderbilt have played every season since the Owls started their program in 2013. The four-point margin of victory was the smallest between the two teams in the six meetings. Over the first five meetings, Vanderbilt won by an average of 15.8 goals.
•
Lauren Hoffman has started all three games in goal and has come through for the Owls. She is 17th in the country averaging 10.33 saves per game. In all three of the games this season, she has had at least 10 saves. Last season, the goalies had one game with double-digit saves.
• East Carolina is the second first-year program on the Owls schedule this season. KSU opened up against Arizona State, who is also currently in their first season.
•
Maura Palandro,
RoseAnna Schiemer and
Laura Jordan had big games on defense against Marquette. The three combined to cause 10 turnovers as Palandro had four and Schiemer and Jordan each had three of their own.
Next Up
Kennesaw State will return for three straight home games beginning with St. Francis on Sunday, March 4 at 1 p.m.
Stat Leaders (2018)
Goals: 10,
Siena Gore
Assists: 3,
Haley Swift
Points: 10,
Siena Gore
Ground Balls: 8,
Riley Proshek and
Lauren Hoffman
Caused Turnovers: 4,
Maura Palandro
Draw Controls: 19,
Siena Gore
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State lacrosse news follow the team on Twitter
@KSUOwlNation and
@KSUOwlsLax or by liking Kennesaw State University on
Facebook.
Fifth Third Bank is the Official Bank of Kennesaw State Athletics. Fifth Third Bank Stadium, the signature athletics landmark on the Kennesaw State University campus, is a world-class facility that has been recognized as one of the premier multi-use outdoor athletics venues in the country. In the fall of 2015, it become the official home of Owls football team and is home to Owls soccer and lacrosse as well.
- #GoKSUOwls -
