By Alana Pelosi, Sports Editor
Last Season: 10-6 overall, 4-3 in CAA
With a unique mix of veteran scorers and powerful freshmen, the women’s lacrosse squad appears to have a dynamic offense ready to seriously compete in the CAA. K’leigh Vanaman, Ashley Jones, Liz Falco and Corrine Gandolfi have all returned to lead the offense in their senior campaign. During the past two seasons the team has had its ups and downs, and this year they appear to be much more fluid on the field than in the past. Despite the departure of midfielder Lauren Whitcomb and defenseman Alysse Ruszkowski, much of the roster is quite experienced. The newcomers are wasting no time getting settled on the field either. One thing that the team most certainly will not be missing is a matchup against national powerhouse Northwestern.
One question that Pride fans may be asking is ‘Who is the starting goalie?’ While senior Mary Cuddihy started all of last season, sophomore Jackie Pandolf has started both games this season. Coach Morgan commented on their play in the Notre Dame game, “I think they played well. Both of them make the saves they should make but both of them didn’t make a big save.”
In front of the goalies is the Pride’s defense lead by senior Bryana Borrelli and junior Jennalee Trombley.
Key Matchups
Virtually every CAA game is a key matchup for the squad this year. After failing to make the CAA tournament for the past two years, the Pride needs to play its best come conference time. The two CAA games that the Pride must be particularly well prepared for are William & Mary and Towson.
William & Mary will be particularly important as they open CAA play for the Pride April 9 at Shuart Stadium. The Tribe handed the Pride a 13-19 defeat last year and will be a good forecast as to how CAA play will materialize for Hofstra.
Defending conference champion, Towson, who is the CAA’s top preseason pick, is the other note-worthy CAA contest. This game is important to the Pride not because of its preseason ranking, but because of last season’s closely contested game. Last year’s 11-13 overtime loss really set a negative tone for the Pride throughout conference play, and from that point on, it mostly was a losing battle.
Phenomenal Freshman
It seems as though Coach Morgan’s recruiting will payoff, as freshmen defenseman Jill Maier and attackman Jacquelyn Ardolino are already making an impact. Maier, who has already made her way into the starting lineup, recorded two assists and caused one turnover in her first two games.
Ardolino, the reigning CAA Freshman of the Week had three goals and three draw controls in her debut against St. Mary’s. Other freshmen, such as attackman Lauren Chandler and midfielder Casey Kellogg, are also expected to help fuel the Pride’s offense.
Star Player
While this team plays very well together, the one constant through the past three seasons has been Corrine Gandolfi’s scoring ability. Now entering her final season with the Pride, the reigning team leader in goals should not be slowing down. Against St. Mary’s,
Gandolfi notched her one-hundreth career goal with the Pride. With 103 goals going into this Saturday’s game against Albany, she has already climbed to seventh on the Pride’s career goals list and will undoubtedly leave the Pride as one of the top scorers in school history.
Noteworthy Nothingness
Since 2000, whenever the team had lost its second game of the season its made it to the conference playoffs. Despite starting off the past two seasons 2-0 and 3-0, the team’s shakiness ultimately got in the way of a post-season appearance.
Freshman attack Lauren Chandler shoots on St. Mary’s goalie Kathleen Worsdale. (Sean M. Gates/ The Chronicle)
