Thursday, May 2
1:00 p.m. – No. 4 Kennesaw State (8-9, 3-3) vs. No. 1 Jacksonville (14-3, 6-0)
Links: ESPN+ | Live Stats
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Notes: KSU

The Opening Draw
» The Kennesaw State women's lacrosse team heads into postseason play for the second straight year, fourth of the last five, to square off with No. 1 seed Jacksonville in the ASUN Tournament opener Thursday at 1 p.m.
» The Owls secured their spot in the tournament after a dominant 25-3 victory over Howard in their regular season finale. The game marked a season-high for goals scored, while breaking the all-time single-game record for total points and assists. The win also marked the first time since 2017 that KSU has held a team under five goals scored.
» Sophomore Madison McGhee shattered all of her career-high marks with three goals and five assists in just one half of play against the Bison. Her eight total points was two shy of the single-game record while her five assists fell just one dime short of the record. Six Owls recorded at least two assists at Howard with Emily Napierala logging her eighth game of the year with two or more dimes. Napierala is currently tied for fourth in the ASUN with 24 assists on the year.
» As a team, KSU ranks third in the conference averaging 14.06 goals per game. With 239 goals scored so far this season, the Owls broke the 200 mark for only the third time in program history. KSU needs just six more goals to tie the current single-season record of 247 set in 2017.
» Siena Gore is the driving force behind the Owls' scoring production, leading the ASUN with 65 goals, over 10 more goals than the next closest player. She ranks 10th in the NCAA for total goals and goals per game (3.82). Gore has netted at least three goals in all but four games this season. She is currently tied with Sydney Farwick (2014-17) for the career goals scored record with 135 so far in her tenure.
» KSU is the most accurate team in the NCAA from eight-meters out, leading the country with a 52.8 free position shooting percentage. The Owls are one of seven teams in the country to shoot over 50 percent from the arc. KSU's 66 free position goals this year is currently ranked fifth in the nation while second on the single-season record list.
» As a team, the Owls rank 10th in the NCAA averaging 15.94 draw controls per game. Marissa and Siena Gore rank first and second in the ASUN with 94 and 91 draw controls, respectively.

Scouting The Dolphins
The two-time defending ASUN Tournament champion Dolphins head into the postseason after claiming their seventh straight regular season title. The No. 1 seed Jacksonville squad finished the regular season 14-3 overall and 6-0 in league play. Jacksonville has won 13 straight conference games, going 44-1 in league play since the 2013 season.

JU leads the conference and ranks second in the nation averaging 17.82 goals per game. On average, Jacksonville is outscoring opponents by 9.59 goals, which leads the NCAA for scoring margin. The Dolphins pepper opposing goalkeepers averaging 28.53 shots on goal per game.

Four players have netted at least 30 goals on the year, eight with over 20, led by attacker Hayley Ciklin with 39.

Defensively, freshman Dayna Martinetto leads the conference with an 8.71 goals against average. Martinetto also ranks third in the league with a 45.4 save percentage.

Tourney Time
The Owls are set to make their fifth appearance in the ASUN Tournament Thursday, having earned a postseason berth in all but two seasons.

KSU has faced Jacksonville only one time before in the ASUN Tournament, squaring off with the Dolphins in its first ever appearance in 2013. The Owls fell to JU 23-3 in that initial meeting.

KSU is looking to claim its first ASUN Tournament win in program history, standing at 0-4 all-time in postseason play.

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 65 goals so far this year, recording three or more in 13 games, five or more in seven games. Gore tied her career-high with seven goals against Detroit and 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 and is currently tied with Sydney Farwick (2014-17) for the KSU career record.

She is one of two players in the ASUN with over 50 goals scored this year, ranking 10th in the NCAA. Her current 3.82 goals per game average ranks 10th in the nation as well. She needs just six more goals this year to break the single-season record of 70 she set last season.

Marissa and Siena are the only two players in the ASUN with more than 80 draw controls on the year, ranked first and second, respectively, in the league. Marissa Gore has logged five or more draw controls in all but four games this year, logging a career-high 10 at Howard. Marissa and Siena currently rank second and third on the KSU single-season record list with 94 and 91 draw controls, respectively.

Marissa Gore has been a huge presence in the midfield for KSU, leading the team in caused turnovers (25) while being one of four players on the team with at least 20 ground balls (28). She currently ranks tied for third in the conference for caused turnovers.

Marissa is one of three Owls to record at least 10 assists and 20 goals on the year, joining sister Siena and Anna Giulitto.

From The Arc
The Owls have been deadly from distance this year with 66 total free position goals to rank fifth in the NCAA. That mark currently ranks second in KSU single-season history.

The Owls are currently shooting 52.8 percent from eight meters out to lead the nation, one of only seven teams shooting 50 percent or better.

In KSU's 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 (27), ranking second in the NCAA. Gore went 3-for-3 in KSU's game at Kent State, marking the fourth time this season she has scored at least three free position goals in a game.

Gore is currently fourth in the NCAA averaging 1.59 free position goals per game. Her 27 goals ranks second in KSU single-season history, six shy of the current record which she set last season. Gore already holds the KSU career record for free-position goals with 60, more than double the next closest Owl.

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

In total, 11 Owls have scored at least one free position goal this year. Giulitto (10), Palermo (8), Abby Squires (6), Marissa Gore (4) and Haley Swift (4) have all scored at least three goals from the eight-meter hash. Emily Napierala and Freshmen Payton Gregory have netted two each while Izzy Bertolani, Sisely Vongphasouk and Jaxsyn Schonewille round out KSU's scoring production with one a piece.

Vongphasouk, Gregory and Schonewille's free position goals marked their first career goals.

Quick Off The Draw
The Owls lead the conference and rank 11th in the NCAA with 271 total draw controls this season, averaging 15.94 draw controls per game to rank 10th in the nation. KSU has recorded 13 or more draw controls in all but two games.

Marissa and Siena Gore rank first and second in the league with 94 and 91 draw controls, respectively. After recording no draw controls in KSU's season-opener, Marissa has logged at least five in all but three games since, scooping up a career-high 10 at Howard.

Following her six draw controls against Jacksonville, Siena Gore became the second Owl in program history to record over 200 career draw controls with 210 and counting. She needs just three more to tie the program record of 213 set by Sydney Farwick (2014-17). Marissa became the fourth Owl in history to break the century mark, currently tied for third with 107.

Currently ranked 11th in the league with 45 draw controls, Abby Squires has climbed up to fifth place this season with 98 total draw controls.

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 24 assists followed by Swift in ninth with 20 and Gore in 13th with 14. Anna Giulitto is currently sitting just outside the top-15 tied for 16th with 12 dimes on the year.

Napierala has logged at least two assists in eight games this year, dishing out a career-high four dimes in the Owls' game at Wofford. With 24 total assists, Napierala is only the third Owl in history to dish out 20 or more dimes in a single-season, needing five more this year to tie the single season record currently held by Swift.

After her two assists at Detroit, Swift became the new the all-time career assists leader at KSU logging 65 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 153 saves on the year ranks second in the league. If maintained, her nine saves per game average would mark the first time in KSU history a keeper averaged more than nine saves per game in a single-season.

Following her 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 293 saves and counting over her three seasons.

Up Next
Depending on Thursday's result, the Owls will either go on to play in the ASUN Championship game Saturday at 1 p.m. or their 2019 season will come to an end.
 

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