Thursday, April 18
4:00 p.m. – Kennesaw State (6-8, 1-2) vs Jacksonville (11-3, 4-0)
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Notes: KSU

The Opening Draw
» The Kennesaw State women's lacrosse team heads into the final stretch of the regular season this Thursday, opening its final homestand of the year against league-leading Jacksonville at 4 p.m.
» The Owls look to bounce back after falling at Coastal Carolina this past Sunday. Despite tying its season-low with only seven goals scored, KSU still ranks third in the conference averaging 14 goals per game, a mark that stands at 25th in the NCAA. KSU has two of the league's top-5 scorers in Siena Gore (1st) and Abby Squires (4th).
» Siena Gore snapped her five-game streak with three or more goals in KSU's last outing, but remains the league-leader with 57 goals on the year, placing her seventh in the nation. Her current 4.07 goals per game average ranks sixth in the country and, if maintained, would set the KSU single-season record.
» The Owls went 2-for-6 on free position shots at Coastal Carolina to remain one of the most accurate teams in the NCAA from eight-meters out. KSU leads the country with a 55.9 free position shooting percentage, one of eight teams in the country shooting over 50 percent. The Owls' 57 total free position goals ranks fourth in the NCAA.
» As a team, KSU ranks 14th in the NCAA averaging 15.86 draw controls per game, a mark that would break the KSU single-season record. The Owls 222 total draw controls ranks 16th in the NCAA while marking the fourth time in program history KSU has logged more than 200 draw controls in a year. Marissa and Siena Gore rank first and second, respectively, in the ASUN for draw controls, being the only two players in the league to log over 70 draw controls on the year.
» Anna Giulitto became the third Owl to record at least 10 goals and 10 assists on the year after logging two goals and an assist at Coastal Carolina. She is the only Owl with at least 20 goals and 10 assists, recording at least one goal and one assist in four of the last five games. The Jackson Township, Ohio native has set career-highs for both assists and goals this season, recording two assists against Marquette and five goals at Kent State.

Scouting The Dolphins
The defending ASUN regular season and two-time tournament champion Dolphins have not slowed down in 2019, leading the league with a 4-0 conference record while going 11-3 overall. Jacksonville has won 11 straight conference games, going 42-1 in league play since the 2013 season.

JU leads the conference and ranks third in the nation averaging 17.14 goals per game. On average, Jacksonville is outscoring opponents by eight goals, ranking fifth in the NCAA for scoring margin. The Dolphins pepper opposing goalkeepers averaging 28 shots on goal per game to rank second in the country.

Five players have netted at least 20 goals on the year for Jacksonville, 11 with at least 10.

Defensively, freshman Dayna Martinetto ranks second in the conference, 15th in the NCAA, with a 9.49 goals against average. Martinetto also ranks third in the league with a 44.1 save percentage.

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 57 goals so far this year, recording three or more in 11 games, five or more in seven games. Gore tied her career-high with seven goals against Detroit. 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 127 career goals. She needs just eight more goals to tie the KSU career record, currently held by Sydney Farwick (2014-17).

She is the only player in the ASUN with over 50 goals scored this year, one of two with over 40 goals, to rank seventh in the NCAA for total goals. Her current 4.07 goals per game average ranks sixth in the nation as well. She needs just 14 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 70 draw controls on the year, ranked second and first, respectively, in the league. Marissa Gore has logged five or more draw controls in all but two games this year, while Siena tied her career-high with 10 against Kent State. Marissa and Siena currently rank third and fourth on the KSU single-season record list with 77 and 76 draw controls, respectively.

Marissa Gore has been a huge presence in the midfield for KSU, leading the team in caused turnovers (21) and draw controls while one of four players on the team with at least 20 ground balls. Her 21 caused turnovers is currently ranked third in the conference.

Marissa is one of four Owls to record at least 10 assists on the year, joining Emily Napierala and Anna Giulitto as the only three Owls to log at least 10 goals and 10 assists on the year.

From The Arc
The Owls have been deadly from distance this year with 57 total free position goals to rank fourth in the NCAA. That mark currently ranks third in KSU single-season history.

The Owls are currently shooting 55.9 percent from eight meters out to lead the nation, one of only eight 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 (26), ranking tied for second in the NCAA. Gore went 3-for-3 in KSU's recent game at Kent State, marking the fourth time this season she has scored at least three free position goals in a game.

Gore currently ranks second in the NCAA averaging 1.86 free position goals per game. Her 26 goals ranks second in KSU single-season history, seven shy of the current record which she set last season. Gore already holds the KSU career record for free-position goals with 59, more than double the next closest Owl.

Anna Giulitto currently ranks tied for fourth in the conference with 10 free position goals scored this year, followed by Izzy Palermo in a tie for sixth with seven goals.

In total, 10 Owls have scored at least one free position goal this year. Giulitto (10), Palermo (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.

The Inside Scoop
Siena Gore, Maura Palandro, Marissa Gore and Alex Bunn 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 27 to rank 11th in the conference, followed by Siena Gore in 13th with 26 and Alex Bunn in 15th with 25. Bunn set a career-high in KSU's last game at Coastal Carolina with five ground balls.

Palandro snapped her streak of a ground ball in every game against the Chanticleers, but has recorded three or more ground balls 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. 

Quick Off The Draw
The Owls lead the conference, 16th in the NCAA, with 222 total draw controls this season, averaging 15.86 draw controls per game to rank 14th in the nation. KSU has recorded 13 or more draw controls in every game since its season-opener when the Owls logged only nine.

Marissa and Siena Gore rank first and second in the league with 77 and 76 draw controls, respectively. After recording no draw controls in KSU's season-opener, Marissa has logged at least five in all but one game since, 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 196, one of three Owls with over 100 draw controls, while Marissa has jumped into fifth with 90.

Currently ranked 10th in the league with 38 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 91 total draw controls. She needs just nine more draw controls to become the fourth Owl in program history to reach the century mark.

Dropping Dimes
Haley Swift, Emily Napierala and Marissa Gore have been key distributors for the Owls so far this year with all three ranked among the league's top-15 for assists. Napierala is currently ranked tied for fourth with 19 assists followed by Swift in 11th with 16 and Gore in a tie for 14th with 11.

Napierala has logged at least two assists in six games this year, dishing out a career-high four dimes in the Owls' game at Wofford.

After her two assists at Detroit, Swift became the new the all-time career assists leader at KSU logging 63 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 eight games this season while setting the KSU single-season and career records.

Her 137 saves on the year ranks second in the league with her current 9.79 saves per game average ranked 24th 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 277 saves and counting over her three seasons.

Next Up
The Owls wrap up their 2019 home slate Saturday afternoon, hosting Stetson at 12 p.m. for Senior Day. 
 

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