Saturday, February 29
1:00 p.m. – Kennesaw State (1-2) vs Presbyterian (2-2)
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Notes: KSU | Presbyterian

OPENING DRAW
» The Kennesaw State women's lacrosse team continues its homestand looking to get back to .500 on the year and bounce back after Wednesday's loss to No. 8 Florida, hosting Presbyterian Saturday afternoon.

» Despite being held to only two goals against Florida, Siena Gore is in a tie for second in the ASUN with 11 total goals so far this year. She needs just one more goal to become the first Owl in history to record 150 career goals. Gore is also ranked second in the league with 18 draw controls.

» After picking up an assist against the Gators senior Emily Napierala moved into a tie for third in the conference with five dimes so far this season. She logged a hat trick of assists in KSU's recent outing against Gardner-Webb, marking just the fifth time in her career she has dished out three or more assists. Napierala is now one of four Owls in history to rack up over 40 career assists.

» KSU is one of three teams so far this year to record over 40 draw controls, currently ranked second in the league with 45. Both Siena (18) and Marissa Gore (10) have recorded double-digit draw controls to rank second and 10th respectively in the ASUN. the Owls' 15 draw controls per game average ranks 26th in the NCAA.

» Alex Bunn and Maura Palandro have been quick with their sticks in the early part of the season, racking up seven ground balls and three caused turnovers to lead the team. The duo are currently tied for 13th in the conference for ground balls.

» KSU was a perfect 5-for-5 on clearnace attempts in the second half of Wednesday's game against Florida, finishing the game 9-for-13. The Owls are one of three teams in the ASUN to have a clearance percentage greater than 80 percent (80.4).

SCOUTING THE BLUE HOSE
Presbyterian heads to Kennesaw with a 2-2 record looking to climb above .500 for the first time this season. Both of Presbyterians wins on the season have come against ASUN foes,downing Howard 19-5 in its season opener and narrowly scraping by Akron 10-9.

PC is led by the junior duo of Sarah Marshall and Kara Diclemente who have each netted over 10 goals on the year. Diclemente also leads the team with 11 ground balls and 12 draw controls. 

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 11 and nine points on the year. Siena has netted 11 goals to rank second in the conference while Marissa has scored six to fall into a tie for 10th.

Marissa also ranks tied for eighth in the league with three assists.

Racking up 28 draw controls as a duo this season, Siena ranks second in the ASUN with 18 draw controls while Marissa is tied for 10th with 10.

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 26 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 recent 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 five 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 three games, the Owls are on pace to be another top team in the country off the draw. KSU has racked up 45 draw controls so far this year to rank secon in the ASUN. Their 15 draw controls per game average is good enough to place the Owls 26th in the country.

Siena Gore leads the Owls, and ranks second in the league, with 18 draw controls in KSU's first three games, followed by Marissa Gore in 10th with 10 and Izzy Palermo in 14th with eight.

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 235, one of two Owls ever to record over 200 career draw controls.

Marissa (119) and Squires (106) are two of five players all-time to record over 100 career draw controls. Palermo needs 14 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 two of KSU's three games, ranking fourth in the league with 24 total saves.

Bunn is already KSU's all-time saves leader with 326 in her career, over 100 more saves than the next closest player. 

THE 2020 SLATE
The KSU lacrosse faithful will have plenty of opportunities to see the Owls in action this season with 12 of their 17 games played on its home turf at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in 2020.

The Owls stare down a formidable schedule that includes showdowns against perennial powerhouses Vanderbilt, Mercer, Furman and Florida. Both Florida and ASUN preseason favorite Jacksonville reached the NCAA Tournament last season with the Gators currently ranked third in the NCAA.

In addition to its first ever match against Florida, KSU will also square off with Vermont and Akron for the first time.

The Owls look to put together their first winning season in program history along with its first postseason victory, playing host to the ASUN tournament in 2020.

Next Up
After Saturday's game, the Owls will host in-state rival Mercer next Wednesday (Mar. 4) at 5 p.m.

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