Friday, February 8
8:00 p.m. EST – Kennesaw State (0-0) at Arizona State (0-0)
Links: Live Stats | Pac-12 Network
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Notes: KSU

Opening Draw
» The Kennesaw State women's lacrosse team kicks off the 2019 season on the road at Arizona State Friday night at 8 p.m. EST. Friday's game closes out the home-and-home series between the Owls and the Sun Devils after ASU opened the 2018 season in Kennesaw.

» Named this year's ASUN Preseason Player of the year, sophomore Siena Gore looks to build off an incredible freshman campaign in which she broke multiple KSU and ASUN single-season scoring records on her way to being named the league's Freshman of the Year as well as garnering first-team all-conference accolades.

» Gore led the team with 70 goals scored last season, setting the KSU and ASUN single-season record while finishing the year ranked 11th in the nation for total goals.

» Junior Maura Palandro joins Gore on the preseason watch list after being one of three players to earn ASUN Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honors. Palandro finished the 2018 season tied for second in the league with 46 ground balls, a mark that ranks third all-time in a single-season at KSU.  

» Senior Haley Swift looks to cement her legacy at KSU during her final season. After leading the team with 16 assists in 2018, Swift needs just nine assists this year to surpass Connor Zophy (56) and become KSU's all-time assists leader.

» Senior goalkeeper Alex Bunn makes her triumphant return to the field this year after being sidelined for all of 2018. Bunn holds the single-season record for wins as a keeper with seven in 2017.

» After losing an influential senior class last year, including most of KSU's starting defensive backline, the Owls will rely heavily on a large group of underclassmen. KSU's roster is very bottom-heavy with only two seniors and 18 sophomores and freshmen.

Preseason Hype
The ASUN's eyes are focused on two Owls who are looking to build on tremendous 2018 campaigns this year, sophomore Siena Gore and junior Maura Palandro. Both Gore and Palandro were named 2018 first-team all-conference selections, with Palandro becoming the first KSU defender in history to receive the accolade.

Apart from her first-team honor last year, Gore was also named the league's Freshman of the Year after breaking the ASUN single-season scoring record. Coming into this season, the Alpharetta, Ga., native was unanimously voted as the league's Preseason Player of the Year. 

After leading the team in ground balls, tied for second in the league, last season, Palandro was named one of three Preseason Defensive Players of the Year. Palandro was selected along with Erica Beal of Jacksonville and Brianna McCaffrey of Liberty. Originally from York, Pa., she looks to climb up the record books this year, currently sitting in fifth all-time for career ground balls with 78.

Re-writing The History Books
In just one season at KSU, sophomore Siena Gore has cemented her place in Owl lore breaking multiple single-season records and setting herself up to shatter career records in just her second year.

Gore set KSU and ASUN single-season records for goals (70), draw controls (119), goals per game (3.9) and draw controls per game (6.6) while setting KSU records for points (75), shots (126) and shots on goal (96). Nationally, Gore finished second in the NCAA for free position goals per game (1.83), sixth for goals per game and 11th for total goals and draw controls per game. 

Heading into the season, Gore is ranked fifth on the all-time career goals scored list and sixth on the career points list. The Alpharetta, Ga., native already holds the KSU career record for free-position goals with 33 during her freshman season. 

Gore currently ranks second all-time for career draw controls and is one of three Owls in history to record over 100 draw controls. Her current 6.6 draw controls per game average is nearly double the previous career record of 3.4.

Swift To Help
Senior Haley Swift enters her final season at KSU looking to become the Owls' all-time career assist leader after leading the team the past two seasons.

The Acworth, Ga., native ranks third on the career assists list with 47, just nine dimes shy of the current record held by Connor Zophy (2015-18). Swift holds two of the top-three spots on the single-season record list, recording 29 assists in 2017 to set the single-season record.

Swift currently holds the career assists per game record averaging 0.94 per game.

Tied Into A Bunn
The 2019 campaign marks the return of senior Alex Bunn to the net for KSU.

Bunn steps between the posts after being sidelined for the entirety of the 2018 season. The Roswell, Ga., native split time as KSU's starting goalkeeper her freshman season before becoming the Owls' go-to keeper in 2017, starting 13 of 16 games.

She currently holds the KSU single-season record with seven wins during the 2017 campaign, recording 94 total saves, a mark that ranks fifth on the single-season record list. Heading into the upcoming season, Bunn ranks fourth on the career saves list with 140, 50 saves shy of the overall record.

Staying Grounded
The Owls were one of the top teams in the country last season at scooping up loose balls, averaging 22.3 ground balls per game to rank eighth in the NCAA. 10 Owls recorded at least 20 ground balls during the 2018 campaign 

KSU's 401 ground balls ranks second in KSU single-season history and eighth in ASUN single-season history. 

Maura Palandro and Izzy Palermo are currently ranked among KSU's top-10 career ground ball leaders. Palandro is fifth with 78 while Palermo is ninth with 54

A Youth Production
With only two seniors on this year's roster, the Owls will look towards its underclassmen to step up. Over half of KSU's 2019 roster are underclassmen, eight sophomores and eight freshmen.

KSU lost six key seniors last year, including attacker Connor Zophy and three of the Owl's starting defenders in RoseAnna Schiemer, Emily Hallberg and Laura Jordan, leaving room for younger players to make their mark.

Maness Enters Third Season
Head Coach Laura Maness looks to continue to elevate the women's lacrosse program in her third season at the helm. 

Since taking over in 2017, the Owls have had their best two-year stretch with 15 wins, more than the first four years of the program combined. In 2017, KSU recorded a program-best eight wins.

The rise in KSU's production over the last two seasons is noticeable, recording over 200 goals, 400 ground balls and 200 draw controls in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.

Making A Tournament Run
Kennesaw State was selected to finish fourth in the ASUN Preseason Coaches' Poll behind perennial powerhouses Jacksonville and Coastal Carolina and ASUN newcomer Liberty. Six-time ASUN Tournament champions Jacksonville finished just two points ahead of Coastal Carolina with both teams receiving three first-place votes.

The Owls returned to the ASUN Tournament last season for the first time since 2016, earning the No. 3 overall seed, the best finish in program history. KSU has reached the conference tournament in four of its six seasons, but have yet to record a win.

Next Up
Following Friday's season-opener, the Owls head to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt Saturday (Feb. 16) at 2 p.m.

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