April 21, 2008
The final full week of the regular season is in the books, and the field for the 2008 Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Tournament is officially set. American earned the right to host the tournament via their 13-10 victory over Colgate on Saturday. As a result, seniors Brittany Finnegan and Kristine Vida each earned weekly awards. Joining them in the weekly honors department were Bucknell's Carol Donohue and Navy's Meg Decker.
Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Release - 4.21.08 
Offensive Player of the Week
Carol Donohue, Bucknell So., A, West Babylon, N.Y.
Donohue had one of the most impressive weeks to date for a Patriot League women's lacrosse student-athlete, as she turned in totals of six goals, nine assists and 15 points in games against Wagner and Lehigh. In the Wagner game, Donohue scored five goals and recorded eight assists for a total of 13 points. The eight assists and 13 points are both tops in the NCAA this season, as was one shy of the NCAA record in assists and tied for ninth-most points in a single game in NCAA history. Donohue also set Bucknell single-season records for points and assists with 68 and 34, respectively.
Defensive Player of the Week
Brittany Finnegan, American Sr., M, West Islip, N.Y.
Finnegan helped the Eagles to a 13-10 victory over Colgate, as well as a share of the Patriot League regular-season title. The senior scored two goals and added three caused turnovers in the game. She also helped lead a defensive unit that surrendered just 10 goals against.
Goalkeeper of the Week
Kristine Vida, American Sr., Syosset, N.Y.
Vida stepped up to the task on Saturday as the Eagles earned the right to host the Patriot League Tournament with a 13-10 win over Colgate. The senior made 14 saves on 24 shots faced, good enough for a save percentage of .583. She also chipped in with a game-high six groundballs.
Rookie of the Week
Meg Decker, Navy Fr., M, Catonsville, Md.
Decker closed out the regular-season with an impressive 11-point week as she helped the Mids secure the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament. Four of her six goals in the Robert Morris game came in the second half as they overcame a two-goal deficit, while all five of her points against Lafayette came in the second-half, after the Leopards had closed the score to 11-10.
Honorable Mention
Inneke Carmola, Lehigh
So, A, Amsterdam, N.Y.
Carmola totaled eight goals and four assists last week in two wins over Villanova and Bucknell. She notched the game winner in the second overtime of the Bucknell game to wrap up the No. 3 seed for the Mountain Hawks.
Lauren Dykstra, Lehigh
Fr., A, Medham, N.J.
Dykstra scored eight goals in two games last week, including the game-tying goal with 1:45 left in regulation against Bucknell.
Patriot League Notebook
The Field Is Set
The field and seeds are now officially set for the 2008 Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Tournament. The American Eagles will host this year's event by virtue of their win over Colgate on Saturday. No. 1 American will host No. 4 Navy in the first game on Friday, while No. 2 Colgate will play No. 3 Lehigh. Navy won the first match-up between the Mids and the Eagles, while Colgate bested Lehigh just two weeks ago.
RPI Ranking Released
The first RPI ranking of the 2008 season was released last week, and here is where the Patriot League teams ended up:
47. Lehigh
51. Colgate
52. Navy
53. American
64. Holy Cross
70. Bucknell
81. Lafayette
All-Time Leader
Lafayette senior Madalyn Booth continued her assault on the record books after scoring eight goals and recording six assists in two games last week. The senior finishes her career 134 assists, which is a new Patriot League record. Booth has also moved into fourth place on the career points list with 269, and finished just outside the top 10 career goals list with 135. Joining Booth in the hunt for the top 10 career goals list is Lehigh junior Sara MacIntyre, who recorded her 100th career goal in a win over Lafayette, and now has 119 for her career. American senior Jackie Lane is also in the hunt for the career points list with 173 for her career.
Quotable
"That is good news that we are at American. It's a local game, so hopefully we can get a good crowd to follow us over there on Friday. Obviously, we'll prepare a little bit differently in that in a tournament setting, you know everything about the other team. We have played all these teams already. It should be a great tournament and we are excited to be part of it."
Navy Head Coach Cindy Timchal after Navy's win over Lafayette.
2008 Patriot League Tournament
The 2008 Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Championship will once again use the two-day format that gives a day of rest in between the semifinals and the championship game for the top four teams in the Patriot League. The tournament will be held at American University on Friday, April 25 and Sunday, April 27. For more information, including a schedule of events and rosters for the participating teams, please visit the Championship Page on the Patriot League website.
Team Notebooks
American
The Eagles clinched hosting responsibilities for the 2008 Patriot League Tournament by virtue of their 13-10 win over previously-unbeaten Colgate this past Saturday. Lauren Aksionoff, Brittany Finnegan and Brit Ferguson each scored two goals apiece in the win, while senior goalkeeper Kristine Vida made 14 saves on 24 shots faced for a save percentage of .583. The Eagles will host No. 4 Navy on Friday afternoon in the Patriot League semifinals.
Bucknell
The Bison ended their Patriot League season with a heartbreaking 11-10 double-overtime loss on Saturday. In two games last week, sophomore Carol Donohue was nothing short of spectacular, as she tallied six goals and nine assists in the two games. At Wagner, Donohue scored five goals and eight assists for a total of 13 points. The 13 points are the highest in the NCAA this season, as are the eight assists. Donahue also set single-season records for points and assists this season, while here 34 assists are tied for the second-most in Patriot League history. Bucknell closes out the season Tuesday at Columbia.
Colgate
The Raiders clinched a share of the regular-season title, as well as the No. 2 seed in this weekend's tournament. Colgate finished out the last week of the season with two games in two days, as they lost at American on Saturday and won at Quinnipiac on Sunday. Junior Ashley Didio scored four goals in the two games, while junior Molly Carroll scored one in each. Freshman Colleen Bubnack scored four goals during the week, while junior goalkeeper Sara Drexler made 22 saves. The Raiders will square off against No. 3 Lehigh on Friday at American.
Holy Cross
The Crusaders ended their season with two games last week, as they defeated Sacred Heart at home and lost to Boston College on the road. Senior Nikki Bolduc scored seven goals last week, including five in the win over Sacred Heart. She finishes the year with a team-high 38 goals and 46 points. Holy Cross finishes the season with an overall record of 5-11, and a Patriot League record of 2-4.
Lafayette
The Leopards finished the season 2-15 following a win over CCSU and a loss to Navy at home last week. Senior Madalyn Booth led the way with eight goals and six assists in the two games last week, as she finishes her career with totals of 269 points, 135 goals and 134 assists. Sophomore Maria Drehwing also scored eight goals and had two assists in the two games.
Lehigh
The Mountain Hawks clinched the third seed for this weekend's Patriot League Tournament, and will face the No. 2 seed Colgate on Friday afternoon. Lehigh finished the regular season with a 2-0 week, including a home win against Villanova and a road win at Bucknell. In the Bucknell game, the Mountain Hawks survived in double-overtime thanks to Inneke Carmola's game-winning goal. Carmola scored eight goals and dished out two assists in the two games last week. Freshman Lauren Dykstra racked up eight goals as well, including the game-tying goal with just under two minutes left in regulation at Bucknell.
Navy
The Mids earned their 11th and 12th victories of the season with wins over Howard and Lafayette last week. The 12 victories sets an NCAA record for the most victories in a team's first year of play at the Division I level. Leading the way for Navy was freshman Meg Decker, who scored 10 goals in the two games last week. Decker and sophomore Erin Rawlick were one of two duos in the nation to each record 50+ goals. Navy will face No. 1 American on Friday afternoon.
