Wednesday, February 26
11:00 a.m. – Kennesaw State (1-1) vs No. 8 Florida (2-1)
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Notes: KSU | Florida
 

OPENING DRAW
» The Kennesaw State women's lacrosse team has its sights set on No. 8 Florida Wednesday, hosting the Gators for the first ever top-10 showdown in program history. The Owls are coming off a big 17-8 victory over Gardner-Webb this past Saturday to mark the first time KSU has begun a season 1-1. 

» Siena Gore dominated the Runnin' Bulldogs with four goals alone in the first half, finishing the game with six total. It was the fourth time in her career that she netted six or more goals in a game. She currently ranks fifth in the ASUN for total goals, with a game in hand on all but two others in the top-10. With seven draw controls against GWU, Siena ranks third in the league recording 13 total draw controls so far this season.

» Senior Emily Napierala logged a hat trick of assists in KSU's outing against Gardner-Webb, marking just the fifth time in her career she has dished out three or more dimes. She is currently tied for third in the conference with four total assists so far this season. Napierala is now one of four Owls in history to rack up 40 career assists.

» As a team, the Owls are one of three teams in the ASUN to shoot over 50 percent so far this season, tied for second with a .500 shooting percentage. Camryn Klaus, who netted her first career goal against GWU, is 1-for-1 on the year while Emily Napierala (66.7%), Siena Gore (64.3%) and Marissa Gore (62.5%) are three of 20 players in the league to shoot over 60 percent so far this season.

» Alex Bunn earned her first win of the season in the net Saturday, holding Gardner-Webb to only three goals in the second half. The redshirt senior racked up another 10 saves against GWU to bring her season total to 20, placing her second in the ASUN.

» KSU out-drew 18-9 this past Saturday to bring its season total to 35 draw controls. The Owls are tied for seventh in the NCAA averaging 17.5 draw controls per game over its first two games.

SCOUTING THE GATORS
The No. 8 Florida Gators head to Kennesaw for the first ever meeting with KSU Wednesday, coming off a 17-6 loss to No. 12 Loyola. UF started off the season with wins over No. 18 Colorado (11-10) and No. 1 Maryland (15-14).

The Gators are led by junior Shannon Kavanaugh who leads the AAC and ranks sixth in the NCAA averaging 4.67 goals per game, 14 total. Just behind Kavanaugh is Brianna Harris who has accounted for 10 goals and four assists to rank second on the team with 14 total points.

SISTER-SISTER
Junior twins Siena and Marissa Gore have been a dominant force for the Owls in just two seasons and are currently two of the top players for the Owls this season. 

Combining for half of KSU's total goals scored on the year, Siena and Marissa rank first and second respectively on the team with nine and eight points on the year. Siena has netted nine goals to rank fifth in the conference while Marissa has scored five to fall into a tie for 10th. 

Marissa also ranks tied for eighth in the league with three assists. Racking up 20 draw controls as a duo this season, Siena ranks third in the ASUN with 13 draw controls while Marissa and Izzy Palermo are tied for 13th with seven a piece.

Originally from Alpharetta, Ga., the two dot the KSU record book already ranking in the top-10 all-time for multiple career marks.

Marissa is currently fifth all-time for career assists while joining sister Siena as one of five players in program history to log over 100 career draw controls. 

Siena already holds the KSU career records for goals, draw controls and shots on goal. She needs just 28 more points this year to break the career record.

NAPPING ON THE JOB
Senior attacker Emily Napierala is the top returning distributor for the Owls in 2020, replacing KSU's all-time leading assister Haley Swift who graduated last season. Napierala led the team with 25 assists a year ago to mark just the third time in program history an Owl has recorded over 20 assists in a season. 

The Lawrenceville, Ga., native logged three assists in KSU's last outing against Gardner-Webb to mark the fifth time in her career she has logged three or more assists in a game. She currently leads the team and ranks tied for third in the ASUN with four total dimes on the year.

Napierala is one of four Owls all-time to record over 40 assists in her career, needing 14 more this season to pass Sydney Farwick (2014-17) for third on the record list.

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
The Owls were one of the top teams in the country last season off the draw, ranking 12th in the NCAA averaging 15.78 draw controls per game. That mark was good enough to rank first on the KSU single season record list along with KSU's 284 total draw controls on the year.

After just two games, the Owls are on pace to be another top team in the country off the draw. KSU has racked up 35 draw controls so far this year to rank third in the ASUN. Their 17.5 draw controls per game average is good enough to place the Owls seventh in the country.

Siena Gore leads the Owls, and ranks third in the league, with 13 draw controls in KSU's first two games, followed by Marissa Gore and Izzy Palermo with seven a piece.

KSU out-drew Gardner-Webb 18-9 last Saturday, 10-4 in the first half alone. 

Both Gores, along with Abby Squires and Izzy Palermo, rank in the top six all-time for career draw controls heading into 2020. Siena Gore is the current record holder with 230, one of two Owls ever to record over 200 career draw controls. 

Marissa (116) and Squires (106) are two of five players all-time to record over 100 career draw controls. Palermo needs 16 more draw controls this year to crack the century mark.

BUNN-BELIEVABLE
Redshirt senior Alex Bunn returns to the net for her fifth and final season in an Owl uniform in 2020. Bunn holds nearly every record a goalkeeper can for KSU, being the only player in program history to start in over 30 games between the posts.

She opened the 2019 season in spectacular fashion, setting the single-game record with 17 saves at Arizona State. The Roswell, Ga., native is the only Owl in program history to average over 10 saves per game in a single season, finishing the 2019 campaign averaging 14.72 saves per game. Her 162 total saves a year ago ranked second in the ASUN and 36th in the NCAA.

So far this year, Bunn has recorded 10 saves in each of KSU's games, ranking second in the league with 20 total saves.

Bunn is already KSU's all-time saves leader with 322 in her career, over 100 more saves than the next closest player. 

Next Up
Following the top-10 matchup Wednesday, the Owls continue their homestand hosting Presbyterian Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.

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