April 2, 2010
WASHINGTON - The No. 15 Georgetown University women's lacrosse squad will host a pair of BIG EAST contests this weekend at Multi-Sport Field. Georgetown will face No. 14 Notre Dame on Saturday at 1 p.m. and will host Connecticut on Monday at 1:30 p.m. Both games will be televised on Verizon FiOS with Monika Moore and Kim Simons calling the games.
No. 15 Georgetown is 3-5 on the season after playing some of the top teams in the nation. GU has wins over Johns Hopkins, Florida and Villanova so far this season. The Blue & Gray's 20-7 victory over Villanova was the Hoyas' first BIG EAST win of the year and also the first game ever played as a member of the BIG EAST lacrosse conference for the Wildcats. To close out last week, the Hoyas hosted No. 19 Princeton at Multi-Sport Field. GU battled, but eventually fell 15-14 in triple overtime.
For her efforts in those two games, senior midfielder Ashby Kaestner (Trappe, Md./Saints Peter and Paul) was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll. Kaestner had two goals and three assists in the win over Villanova for five points. She also picked up five ground balls and tallied five draw controls as well as one caused turnover. In the tough match against Princeton, the senior managed four goals while also having one ground ball, two draw controls and a caused turnover.
Notre Dame is 1-0 in BIG EAST play defeating Louisville 11-9 on March 27. The team is 5-3 overall and ranked No. 14 in the IWLCA poll. The Irish are led by Maggie Tamasitus who has 23 points on the season including a team-best 15 assists. Kailene Abt is the squad's second-leading scorer with 14 goals and five assists while Shaylyn Blaney is the team's goal leader with 17 scores on the season.
Georgetown is 10-4 all-time against the Irish after meeting them twice last season. In the regular season game in South Bend, Ind., the Irish went up early by four goals. However, Georgetown opened the second half with a 6-0 run getting the 14-12 victory. It snapped a seven-game UND win streak. In the second meeting, the BIG EAST Tournament Championship at Multi-Sport Field, the game had a similar feel as the Irish built a seven-goal lead at the half. Georgetown went on a 6-0 run in the second to trail by one with seven minutes remaining. Unfortunately, GU just couldn't finish it off eventually falling 12-10.
Connecticut will face Rutgers on Saturday before playing Georgetown on Monday. Sophomore M.E. Lapham remains among the nationally-ranked scorers with a team-best 36 points, averaging 4.0 goals per game. Lapham is 11th in the nation in that category while her 28 draw controls leads the Huskies and is 22nd in the NCAA. Overall, UConn is second in the nation in draw controls averaging 15.44 per game entering Friday's BIG EAST opener. Lapham headlines a balanced attack for the Huskies this season as there are six double-digit scorers, including classmate Kiersten Tupper with a team-best 13 assists.
Georgetown is 9-0 all-time against the Huskies. Last season at Multi-Sport Field, GU downed UConn 19-8. The Hoyas opened with a 7-0 run and eventually led 9-2 at the break. The second half was all Georgetown as the team coasted to the victory. Kaestner and classmate Molly Ford (Reisterstown, Md./Notre Dame Prep) each had four goals in the game.
The opening draw for Saturday's game is scheduled for 1 p.m., and Monday's contest is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. Live Stats and a webcast will be available at www.GUHoyas.com. Both games will be televised on Verizon FiOS.
