QU Women's Lacrosse Set to Open MAAC Play at Niagara on Saturday

Saturday, March 26

Niagara Field - Niagara Falls, NY

12:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Niagara

QU Women's Lacrosse Set to Open MAAC Play at Niagara on Saturday

3/24/2016 3:25:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Bobcats Attempting to Start MAAC Play With a Win for the Second Time in Three Seasons

By: QU Sports Information

Quinnipiac Bobcats (2-5, 0-0 MAAC) at
Niagara Purple Eagles (4-4, 0-0 MAAC)
Saturday, March 26, 2016 – 12:00 PM
Niagara Field – Niagara Univ., NY
All-Time Series vs. Niagara: Tied 2-2

Follow the Game
Live Stats: PurpleEagles.com
Free Live Video: Niagara Sports Network
Twitter: @QU_WLAX

The Quinnipiac women's lacrosse team opens MAAC play this weekend as the Bobcats head up to Buffalo to take on the Niagara Purple Eagles on Saturday, March 26 at 12 PM from Niagara Field. The Bobcats look to open their conference slate with a victory for the second time in three seasons since joining the MAAC in 2014.

SCOUTING THE PURPLE EAGLES
Niagara (4-4) has gotten off to a fast start in their non-conference slate to open the season as the Purple Eagles coming into Saturday's meeting with the Bobcats riding a three-game winning streak. Currently 2-0 at home in 2016, the Purple Eagles have defeated Cincinnati (9-8), Mount St. Mary's (12-11) and St. Bonaventure (14-6) in the midst of their three-game uptick. Niagara could very easily stand with a record of 6-2, with one of the two losses coming at No. 3 ranked Florida, as the Purple Eagles opened the season with a pair of one-goal overtime losses at Binghamton and Colgate. Freshman attack Caroline Crump leads the team with 21 points on the year – 13 goals and eight assists. Crump was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week this past Monday after tallying five goals and one assist in Niagara's 12-11 win over Mount St. Mary's last Friday. Junior attack Taylor Wolf also adds 12 goals with three assists for 15 points while freshman midfielder Alexis Morales has found the net 13 times this season to tie Crump for the team-lead. The Purple Eagles lead the MAAC in scoring defense, allowing just 10.71 goals per game while their 8.57 caused turnovers per game rank 41^st in the NCAA and second in the MAAC, trailing only the Bobcats (8.71). Senior Elizabeth Benedict is tied for seventh in the MAAC in caused turnovers per game (1.29) while Alexandra Higgins (3.86; fifth) and Danielle Maio (2.71, ninth) both rank in the top 10 in the conference for draw controls per game. Goalkeeper Andrea Francisco is second in the MAAC with a 10.39 goals-against average.

SERIES HISTORY
Niagara and Quinnipiac have squared off four times in the series history and just twice before the Bobcats entered the MAAC in 2014. Quinnipiac comes in with a 2-2 all-time record against the Purple Eagles as both victories came back in the early 2000s starting with a 12-9 victory on March 14, 2000 as well as a 13-7 win on March 9, 2002, both wins for the Bobcats came in Hamden. Last year's conference matchup ended with Niagara on top, 16-11, as three Bobcats (Kyra Ochwat, Kelly Babstock and Kathleen DeVito) each tallied three goals in the loss.

CAREY-ING THE OFFENSE
Aileen Carey has found her shooting stroke as she enters Saturday with a career-high five-game goal scoring streak including a four-game multi-goal scoring streak. She leads the team with 12 goals in 2016 and has scored more goals (12) over this five-game stretch than in any prior five-game streak in her four-year career. Coming into her senior season with just three career hat tricks, Carey has already posted three hat tricks in seven games this season.

GOING BACK-TO-BACK
After not seeing a Bobcat win an individual MAAC weekly award in the first two full seasons since joining the conference in 2014, Quinnipiac's sophomore goalkeeper Kyle Larkin has picked up back-to-back MAAC Defensive Player of the Week awards. Over the last two weeks, no goalkeeper in the MAAC has been as hot as Larkin as she has allowed nine goals (4.50 GAA) and posted 19 saves (.679 save percentage) in picking up two straight wins for the Bobcats. In her most recent outing against UMass Lowell, Larkin allowed a career-low four goals in a 7-4 win while tallying eight saves on 12 shots (.667 save percentage).

SHUTOUT STREAK
The first goal for UMass Lowell (3/12) which came with 27:32 remaining in the second half broke up the Bobcats' scoreless streak which spanned the course of the two games. Quinnipiac held Army West Point (3/5) scoreless for the final 17:56 of play in a 6-5 win and held UMass Lowell without a goal for 32:28 of play in a 7-4 win. Quinnipiac's scoreless streak lasted a total of 50:24 as Larkin made 10 straight saves in that time frame.

DEFENSIVE DYNAMOS
Heading up a lockdown defensive effort against UMass Lowell (3/12) was the tandem of Leah Walter and Kiera Kelly. The two leading shutdown defenders for the Bobcats contributed in big ways as Walter tied her career-high in ground balls (five) and caused turnovers (three) while Kelly snagged four ground balls and tied her career-high with four caused turnovers. The pairing combined to hold the top three River Hawk scorers entering the game to no points throughout 60 minutes of action. This was one game following a total shutdown of Army West Point's leading scorer Amy Johnston, holding her without any points in the one-goal win.

DEFENSE FIRST
Quinnipiac has predicated themselves on the defensive end all season and their stellar efforts protecting their cage has played a large role during the two-game winning streak. The hot streak started in a 6-5 win over Army West Point (3/5) as the 11 combined goals represents the lowest combined score total in a Quinnipiac victory since the Bobcats defeated Robert Morris by the identical score on the road back on April 7, 2012. Most recently, Quinnipiac's 7-4 win over UMass Lowell (3/12) saw Quinnipiac allow their fewest goals to an opponent in a single game since an 8-4 win over Monmouth back on April 23, 2010 (86 games ago).

FORTUNATO'S FIRST WIN
A defensive-minded midfielder in her four years as a player for Quinnipiac (2004-08), first-year head coach Brittany Fortunato's first career victory was very reminiscent of her playing style. The 11 combined goals in the 6-5 victory over Army West Point (3/5) represents the lowest combined score total in a Quinnipiac victory since the Bobcats defeated Robert Morris on the road by the identical score back on April 7, 2012.

LARKIN LEADING THE WAY
The vastly improved play of Kyle Larkin in the cage has played a big role in the Bobcats' turnaround after a disappointing loss in the season opener to UConn. In the past six games alone, Larkin has matched her career-high with 11 saves in two of the six contests and posted double digit save totals in four-of-six in the stretch including the last two straight. Larkin's cumulative totals of 58 saves (9.7 per game), .496 save percentage and 9.83 GAA in the last six games (360 minutes played) has helped lead the way in a turnaround inspired on the defensive end.

KEEP TRYING TO GET ONE PAST KYLE
The recent six-game turnaround has seen Kyle Larkin rise up the national rankings as she now sits 12^th in the nation in saves per game (9.57) and tied for 23^rd in ground balls per game (3.00). If you subtract the 21-0 loss to UConn (2/17), Larkin would sit tied for 16^th nationally in save percentage (.496) and Top 50 in GAA (9.83).

ASSISTED LIVING
Kathleen DeVito acted as the Bobcats' main distributor throughout the 6-5 win over Army West Point (3/5) as she matched her career-high with three assists while adding one goal for a season-high four-point night. Devito has since added eight assists over the last four games to place her atop the team leaderboard in assists (eight) as well as tied for second in points (11) on the season.

SENIOR CENTER
After notching just three combined goals in the first three games of 2016, the Bobcats' senior tandem of Aileen Carey (10-0-10) and Kathleen DeVito (1-8-9) have combined for 20 points in the last four games as the two have combined to either score or assist on 14 of the 21 total goals scored (67 percent) for the Bobcats.

FRESH FACE
Among the many freshmen to shine on the day against Binghamton (2/27) included Allison Kuhn who posted a team-leading four-point day (three goals, one assist) as she either scored or assisted on more than half of the goals scored for Quinnipiac on the day. She also becomes the first Quinnipiac freshman to tally at least four points in a game since Maria Blois tallied four points (one goal, three assists) back on April 19, 2013. Kuhn also added a game and personal-high four draw controls.

FRESH FACES
Quinnipiac's freshmen class has factored heavily in the Bobcats' scoring throughout the season as Allison Kuhn (7-2-9), Ellie Swenson (1-2-3), Aubrey Conti (1-1-2), Cara O'Meally (1-0-1), and Alexa Paul (1-0-1) have accounted for 16 of the Bobcats' 49 total points (32.7 percent) so far through seven games in 2016. In terms of just goal scoring, 11 of the Bobcats' 32 goals (34.4 percent) have been scored by Quinnipiac freshmen this season.

FINDING THEIR IDENTITY
Coming off a disappointing 21-0 loss in the 2016 season opener, Quinnipiac certainly found their defensive identity in the second half at Yale (2/24) as the Bulldogs scored just three of their 11 goals in the final 30 minutes of play. The 11-goal total for the Bulldogs also easily stands as the fewest allowed by Quinnipiac in the series history as the previous fewest came in 2014 when Yale defeated the Bobcats, 15-8.

THAT'S MINE!
Sophomore Kiera Kelly filled the stat sheet with career highs in ground balls (eight) and caused turnovers (four) at Yale (2/24). After becoming the first freshman in program history to lead Quinnipiac in ground balls and caused turnovers last season, Kelly came one ground ball shy of matching the single-game program record (nine) which was compiled by Christy Smallman against Vermont on March 4, 2005.

AT THE TOP OF HER CRAFT
Kiera Kelly has seen an immediate rise in her production through seven games in 2016. Having compiled 21 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers, Kelly currently stands tied for 23^rd in the nation with 3.00 ground balls per game while leading the MAAC and ranking seventh in the nation with 2.43 caused turnovers per game.