|
US Lacrosse College Notebook
March 21, 2003
Roanoke's Stone Survives Baptism by Fire
Roanoke College's
Emily Stone did not have much time to prepare for her first
game as head coach of the Maroon women's lacrosse team. Try two
days, and the game was against Lynchburg
no less, a team Roanoke hadn't beaten since 1999.
That's the situation Stone found herself in when she joined Roanoke
Monday as the interim coach following Julie Mazer's resignation.
Stone, a four-year player at Longwood in the mid-'90s, had just
left her position with the National Security Agency when she learned
of the opening at Roanoke. Mazer announced her resignation Feb.
18 to become the head field hockey coach at Lehigh,
but stayed on to coach the Maroons through their March 15 game against
Virginia Wesleyan.
Roanoke started 4-0, but then had to deal with the coaching change.
The result? Just a dramatic, 14-13, come-from-behind over the Hornets.
Steph Calabrese had five goals and three assists to pace
the Maroons, who trailed 7-3 at the half.
“We came out on our heels, we had the jitters. But once we
started to play our own game, we came out on top. It was a great
rally and a critical win for the momentum of the season,” said
Stone, who had limited high school coaching and officiating experience
before joining Roanoke.
A coaching change can be a trying experience for a team, even more
so if it occurs mid-season. Stone credits the leadership of her
three seniors for helping the team through the transition. Goalie
Lisa Humphries and defenders Katy Shaver and Nikki
Whitmore “did a good job of setting the tone for accepting
the change and moving forward with it,” said Stone. Assistant
coach Stephanie Masucci also remained with the team through
the coaching change.
Stone had worked in the counter-intelligence and criminal justice
fields before leaving the NSA and deciding she wanted to return
to full-time coaching. “Coach Mazer did an incredible job of
building the team the last four years, really preparing them for
anything. They've dealt with the change maturely and with great
attitudes,” said Stone.
Roanoke faces a major test Saturday at fifth-ranked St.
Mary's (6-0). RC will reevaluate its coaching situation over
the summer, but if first impressions count for anything, Stone should
have her foot in the door.
Around the Country
Patriot Women Head for Prime Time
The George Mason
women's lacrosse team will get its first taste of prime time lacrosse
Friday night when it hosts Colonial Athletic Association rival Hofstra.
The game will mark the first ever women's lacrosse home night game
for GMU. The university funded the installation of lights at George
Mason Stadium last summer, and the Patriot men's and women's soccer
teams made use of them in the fall. Faceoff for George Mason (2-2
overall, 0-1 CAA) and Hofstra (1-2 overall) is 7 p.m. under the
lights. GMU head coach Amy Umbach needs two wins to reach
50 in her career.
The Unbeaten
There are six remaining unbeaten teams in men's Division I lacrosse
following Dartmouth's 14-7
loss to UMBC on Wednesday and
three of them reside in the ECAC. Georgetown
(6-0, ranked fifth), Massachusetts
(5-0, ranked sixth) and Rutgers
(6-0, ranked 10th) represent the ECAC. The others are top-ranked
Virginia (5-0), second-ranked Maryland
(4-0) and 14th-ranked Yale (3-0).
All six will put the unbeaten marks on the line this weekend, highlighted
by Virginia's Saturday night
game at fourth-ranked Johns Hopkins.
Sharp Dressed Man
VMI went 19 years without a conference,
but it didn't take the Keydets men's lacrosse team long to feel
right at home in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. VMI beat
Canisius 13-9 on Saturday
and then beat defending league-champion Manhattan
8-7 behind 20 saves from senior goalie Brian Ward. With a
2-0 league record, the Keydets find themselves just a half-game
behind league-leading St. Joseph's
(3-5, 3-0 MAAC) entering Saturday's game at Wagner.
VMI head coach Doug Bartlett donned a tie on the sidelines
for the first time in his career for the inaugural MAAC game against
Canisius. Figuring he had found a good thing the tie was back for
the Manhattan game. You can bet he'll be well dressed for his trip
to Staten Island.
“Mare-uh-lin” Schools Remember the 'D'
Five Maryland Division III squads turned in impressive defensive
performances Wednesday. Washington
College shut out Ursinus,
19-0, in Centennial Conference play behind Jon Spivey's five
goals. The game marked the Shoremen's first shutout of another team
since 1997 when they beat Swarthmore
17-0. Five players scored two goals each as Goucher
defeated Capital Athletic Conference rival York
12-1. The Gophers held an opponent to one goal for the second time
in 12 years of men's lacrosse. Kevin Whalen scored nine points
(5g-4a) to lead St. Mary's
to an 18-2 win over Massachusetts-Dartmouth.
Ten McDaniel
players scored goals, many thanks to Rob Weaver's six assists,
as the Green Terror beat Haverford
18-3. On the women's side, 13 Sea Gulls scored goals in Salisbury's
19-3 CAC win over Marymount.
The five impressive efforts followed the Division I Terrapin women's
defensive statement Tuesday. The University
of Maryland allowed Dartmouth
to find the goal just twice in a 9-2 win in Hanover, N.H.
US Lacrosse College Notebook is a weekly feature on the US Lacrosse
web site. For information about supporting the sport through membership
in US Lacrosse, visit our membership page.
|
