Thursday, May 6
4:00 p.m. ET – Kennesaw State (5-9, 1-2) vs Liberty (9-8, 2-1)
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Notes: KSU
Tournament Bracket

OPENING DRAW
» The Kennesaw State women's lacrosse team heads into its third straight ASUN Tournament Thursday afternoon, taking on No. 2 seed Liberty at 4 p.m. in Fifth Third Bank Stadium. The Owls are looking for their first ever postseason win after going 0-5 in their previous appearances. Thursday's game marks the first time KSU and the Flames will meet in the tournament. Liberty won the regular season meeting between the two squads 17-6 in Lynchburg to earn the No. 2 seed.

» Siena Gore has battled through a nagging injury in KSU's recent games to remain one of the nation's leading attackers. She heads into the postseason ranked third in the NCAA for goals per game averaging 4.85 while ranked seventh with 63 total goals. Gore has recorded six or more goals in five games this season recording a career-high, and the KSU single-game record, with nine goals against Wofford and Mercer. Only seven other players in the country have netted at least 60 goals on the year. Gore also leads the country for total free position goals (30) and free position goals per game (2.31). This year Gore became the first Owl in program history to record over 200 career points while breaking the all-time ASUN record for career goals and draw controls with 229 and 331 respectively. She needs just three more points to break the all-time conference record for career points and is the only player in the ASUN with over 50 points on the season, ranked 15th in the NCAA with 71 total points.

» Freshman Julia Weiss has been a huge asset in the net for KSU, recording double-digit saves in six games this season. She is one of two players in the league to log over 100 saves this season, ranked 31st in the NCAA with 120 total saves. Following her 12 saves in KSU's game against Liberty, Weiss became the sixth goalkeeper in program history to reach the century mark for career saves, reaching that mark in a record 12 games. She's one of five Owls to record over 100 saves in a single season, ranked second on the record list.

» Twin sister Marissa Gore has provided a one-two punch for KSU, recording at least four points in seven games this year. She currently leads the league with 18 assists, recording a career-high five assists against Mercer, one shy of the single-game record. Gore has logged at least one assist in the last six straight games. A threat across the field, she ranks second in the league for points (48), ground balls (34) and caused turnovers (21) while ranked third for draw controls (59) and fifth for goals (30).

» On the defensive side, the Owls have five players ranked in the league's top-15 for caused turnovers with Marissa and Siena Gore ranked second and fourth with 21 and 20, respectively. Rachel Price ranks 10th with 13 caused turnovers while Payton Gregory and Roslyn Talbert are tied for 13th with 11 apiece. As a team, KSU ranks 36th in the NCAA averaging 8.93 caused turnovers per game.

WONDER TWIN POWERS
Senior twins Siena and Marissa Gore have buoyed the KSU attack this season and throughout their careers. They rank first and second in the ASUN for total points on the year, leading the Owls with 63 and 30 goals respectively. They are two of five players in the league to record over 40 points on the year with Siena ranked 15th in the country.

Siena Gore has netted at least six goals in five games, breaking the single-game record twice with a career-high nine goals against Wofford and Mercer. Siena is one of eight players in the country to record over 60 goals this season, ranked third in the NCAA for goals per game (4.85) and seventh for total goals (63). She has now netted over 50 goals in three seasons, the only Owl to score 50+ goals in a year.

She leads the ASUN with 71 points to rank 15th in the NCAA for total points and 11th for points per game. Siena also ranks in the league's top-5 for draw controls (1st), caused turnovers (4th), ground balls (3rd) and shooting percentage (1st).

Not to be overshadowed, Marissa Gore currently leads the ASUN for assists (18) while ranked among the top-5 in the conference for goals (5th), points (2nd), draw controls (3rd), caused turnovers (2nd) and ground balls (2nd). Marissa has netted at least three goals in seven games, recording four or more points in seven games.

The Gores have either broken or are ranked in the top-10 for nearly every category in the KSU career record book.

Siena Gore has broken the single-season record for points, goals and draw controls twice, becoming the only Owl in history to record over 150 goals and 250 draw controls. She recently set the KSU all-time career record for points and is one of four players in ASUN history to earn at least 200 career points ranked second with 256.

Marissa Gore has been another all-around powerhouse for KSU, ranking fifth all-time for career assists (48), third for draw controls (195) and third for caused turnovers (56). She recently became just the eighth player in KSU history to record 100 career points after scoring a career-high six goals against Stetson. Marissa ranks fifth for career points (130) and seventh for career goals (82).

WEISS IN HER VEINS
Freshman Julia Weiss has propped up the KSU defense with 120 total saves on the year to rank second in the ASUN and 31st in the NCAA. She currently averages 8.57 saves per game having logged double-digit saves in six games, including a career-high 14 against Winthrop.

Weiss is just the sixth keeper in KSU history to hit the century mark for career saves, passing Peyton Murdock (2014) to rank fifth all-time. She is also just the fifth Owl ever to record 100 saves in a single season, currently ranked second on the record list behind Alex Bunn's 162 saves in 2019.

If she can maintain her current saves per game average, Weiss would rank third on the single-season record list, marking just the fourth time an Owl has averaged over eight saves per game in a season.

Weiss also ranks tied for third in the conference with 32 ground balls on the year joining Siena and Marissa Gore as three of six players in the ASUN to tally at least 30 ground balls this season.

LOCK DOWN D
From the cage to the restraining line, the Owl defense has shined this season. KSU averages 8.93 caused turnovers per game to rank 36th in the NCAA. Five Owls, Siena Gore, Marissa Gore, Roslyn Talbert, Payton Gregory and Rachel Price, all rank among the league's top-15 for total caused turnovers.

KSU has recorded over 10 caused turnovers in six games, recording 15 in its game against Mercer falling one shy of the single-game record. If maintained, KSU's 8.93 caused turnovers per game average would rank second in KSU single-season history.

UP NEXT
If the Owls can get past Liberty, they would head to the ASUN Championship for the first time in program history Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Fifth Third Bank Stadium.

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