Thursday, April 11
3:00 p.m. – Kennesaw State (5-7, 0-1) at Kent State (1-12, 0-3)
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Notes: KSU

The Opening Draw
» The Kennesaw State women's lacrosse team dives into ASUN play this Thursday heading to conference-newcomers Kent State to take on the Golden Flashes, playing in their inaugural season, at 3 p.m.
» The Owls are coming off their most dominant win of the season, defeating Wofford 19-8 this past Sunday. Both Abby Squires and Anna Giulitto netted four goals in the game, a career-high mark for Giulitto, with Siena Gore recording her fourth straight game with three or more goals. Gore currently leads the ASUN with 50 goals scored on the year, followed by Squires in third with 29 goals.
» So far this year Siena Gore has scored three or more goals in all but two games, five or more in six games, to lead the Owls and the league. Her 50 total goals scored currently ranks seventh in the country with her 4.17 goals per game average ranking fifth in the NCAA. Gore also ranks among the nation's top-10 for free positions goals per game (1st), shots on goal per game (4th) and shots per game (7th).
» Despite only scoring one free position goal in the last two games, the Owls remain one of the deadliest teams in the NCAA from eight-meters out. KSU leads the country with a 56.2 free position shooting percentage, one of seven teams in the country shooting over 50 percent. The Owls' 50 total free position goals ranks fifth in the NCAA.
» Alex Bunn added another record to her already tremendous 2019 campaign becoming the new KSU single-season record holder for total saves. After logging eight saves at Wofford she took sole possession of first place with 119 saves on the year. Bunn now holds the KSU single-game, single-season and career record for saves. She is currently averaging 9.92 saves per game to rank second in the conference and 23rd in the NCAA.
» On the opposite end of the field, the Owls have one of the most formidable attacks in the country, averaging 14.25 goals per game to rank third in the league and 20th in the NCAA. KSU currently ranks fourth in the nation with a 50.4 shooting percentage. In the center circle, KSU ranks 10th in the NCAA averaging 15.92 draw controls per game. Both Marissa (25th) and Siena Gore (35th) rank among the nation's top-50 for draw controls.

The Weekend Scout
The Owls head back into conference play against a Kent State program in its first season of existence. The Golden Flashes are 1-12 on the year and 0-3 in ASUN play, having dropped games against Coastal Carolina, Jacksonville and Stetson. Kent State won its first ever game at the end of March, downing Delaware State 21-6.

The Golden Flashes are currently averaging 7.92 goals per game, but are very active in the midfield ranked second in the ASUN with 242 ground balls and third for caused turnovers with 125.

Goalkeeper Grace Merrill is the driving force behind Kent State's production with 39 ground balls on the year, good enough for fourth in the league, with her three ground balls per game average ranking 29th in the NCAA. Merrill leads the conference with 134 saves, ranked 13th in the nation for both total saves and saves per game (10.31).

Offensively, three Golden Flashes have recorded at least 20 goals on the year, led by midfielder Abby Jones who leads the team in goals (24), assists (12) and points (36).

House Gore
Sophomore twins Siena and Marissa Gore have been dominant all year long, leading the Owls in almost every category.

After a record-breaking freshman season, Siena Gore continues to elevate her game with 50 goals so far this year, recording three or more in 10 games, five or more in six games. Gore tied her career-high with seven goals against Detroit. So far this year she has been named the ASUN Player of the Week twice.

Following her five goals against Liberty, she became just the fourth Owl in program history to record over 100 career goals, sitting at second all-time with 120 career goals.

She is the only player in the ASUN with over 40 goals scored this year, one of two with over 30 goals, standing at seventh in the NCAA for total goals. Her current 4.17 goals per game average ranks fifth in the nation. She needs just 20 more goals this year to break the single-season record she set last season.

Siena and Marissa are the only two players in the ASUN with more than 60 draw controls on the year, ranking second and first, respectively. Marissa Gore has logged five or more draw controls in all but two games to lead the league with a 5.5 per game average, ranking 25th in the NCAA. Her 66 draw controls on the year is currently ranked third on the KSU single-season record list.

Marissa Gore has been a huge presence in the midfield for KSU, leading the team in caused turnovers (19) and draw controls (66) while ranked third for ground balls (20). Her 19 caused turnovers is currently ranked third in the conference.

Marissa has logged at least one assist in seven of the last eight games, recording 13 goals in that span. She and Emily Napierala are the only two Owls to log at least 10 goals and 10 assists on the year.

Free Ninety-Nine
The Owls have been deadly from distance this year with 50 total free position goals to rank fifth in the NCAA. That mark currently ranks third in KSU single-season history.

The Owls are currently shooting 56.2 percent from eight meters out to lead the nation, one of only seven teams shooting 50 percent or better.

In KSU's recent outing against Detroit, the Owls recorded nine free position goals, finishing 9-of-12, to rank third all-time in a single-game.

Siena Gore is the only player in the ASUN with over 20 free position goals this year (22), ranking tied for third in the NCAA. Izzy Palermo and Anna Giulitto are both tied for fifth in the league with seven each.

Gore currently leads the NCAA averaging 1.83 free position goals per game. Her 22 goals ranks second in KSU single-season history, 11 shy of the current record which she set last season. Gore already holds the KSU career record for free-position goals with 55, more than double the next closest Owl.

In total, 10 Owls have scored at least one free position goal this year. Palermo (7), Giulitto (7), Abby Squires (4), Marissa Gore (3) and Haley Swift (3) have all scored at least three goals from the eight-meter hash. Emily Napierala, Izzy Bertolani and Freshmen Payton Gregory and Jaxsyn Schonewille round out KSU's scoring production with one a piece.

Gregory and Schonewille's free position goals marked their first career goals at KSU.

The Inside Scoop
Siena Gore, Maura Palandro and Marissa Gore have all picked up their fair share of loose balls this season as the only Owls to record over 20 ground balls on the year.

Palandro leads the team with 26 to rank ninth in the conference, followed by Siena Gore in 11th with 23 and Marissa Gore in 16th with 20.

Palandro is the only Owl to log at least one ground ball in every game this season, recording three or more in four games. After her two ground balls against Detroit, the York, Pa., native became the third Owl in history to record 100 career ground balls. 

Dropping Dimes
Haley Swift, Emily Napierala and Marissa Gore have been key distributors for the Owls so far this year with Napierala and Swift both ranking among the league's top-10 for assists. Napierala is currently ranked fifth with 17 assists followed by Swift in a tie for sixth with 15. Gore sits in a tie for 13th with 11.

Napierala has logged at least one assist in all but three games this year, dishing out a career-high four dimes in the Owls' game at Wofford. Swift has logged two or more assists in three of the last four games while Gore has logged one assist in seven of the last eight games to join Napierala as the only Owls with at least 10 goals and 10 assists on the year.

After her two assists at Detroit, Swift became the new the all-time career assists leader at KSU logging 62 dimes throughout her tenure as an Owl.

Bunn-believable
Senior Alex Bunn returned to the net in spectacular fashion, breaking the KSU single-game record with 17 saves in the Owls' season-opener. Since then she has yet to slow down recording double-digit saves in seven games this season while setting the KSU single-season and career records.

Her 119 saves on the year ranks second in the league with her current 9.92 saves per game average ranked 23rd in the nation. If maintained, it would mark the first time in KSU history a keeper averaged more than nine saves per game in a single-season.

With eight saves at Wofford, Bunn took sole possession of the KSU single-season record, surpassing the previous mark of 111 set last year.

After recording 13 saves against New Hampshire, Bunn became the first Owl in KSU history to record over 200 career saves with 259 saves and counting over her three seasons.

Quick Off The Draw
The Owls lead the conference with 191 total draw controls this season, averaging 15.9 draw controls per game to rank 10th in the NCAA. KSU has recorded 13 or more draw controls in every game since its season-opener when the Owls logged only nine.

Marissa Gore leads the league with 66 total draw controls followed by sister Siena in second with 61. Marissa's 66 draw controls currently ranks third in KSU single-season history. After recording no draw controls in KSU's season-opener, Marissa has logged at least five in in all but one game, snapping her nine-game streak at Furman.

Although just sophomores, Siena and Marissa already rank among the all-time leaders for career draw controls. Siena is second on the KSU all-time career draw controls list with 180, one of three Owls with over 100 draw controls, while Marissa has jumped into fifth with 79.

Currently tied for seventh in the league with 37 draw controls, Abby Squires has begun her climb towards the top of the career record list. Squires entered the year in eighth with 53 career draw controls and has since moved up to fourth place during the opening portion of the season with 90 total draw controls. She needs just 10 more draw controls to become the fourth Owl in program history to reach the century mark.

Next Up
Following Thursday's game, the Owls close out their four-game road trip at Coastal Carolina Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.

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