GAME NOTES
• The Millersville Marauders put on an offensive clinic, on Senior Day, as the team cruised to a 26-15 victory over Gannon. Senior
Kristen Butzner set another record for the lacrosse program. Butzner broke Bridget Hufnagel's single-season points record of 81 points. Now, at 87 points, Butzner has the opportunity to extend her record further.
• Millersville returns to Biemesderfer Stadium for its final home game of the season when it hosts No. 8 West Chester. The challenge of upsetting the Golden Rams is daunting, but Millersville must win out, in its final two games, to sneak into the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference playoffs. Millersville sits in seventh in the PSAC Standings and one game behind Lock Haven. With a tiebreaker in hand, the Marauders will need the Bald Eagles to drop at least one of their next two games to jump ahead of them.
• Gannon played a competitive first half with Millersville, but the Marauders made adjustments in the second half to pull away from the Golden Knights. Millersville dominated draw controls and groundballs which allowed the team to take twice as many shots on goal as Gannon. The 26-15 scoreline reflected the disparity in statistics.
• The Marauders will look to replicate that Gannon performance against the West Chester Golden Rams. Two goals separate first place, Millersville, and second place, West Chester, in the PSAC goal rankings. Therefore, Millersville's defense will be used to facing a high-flying offense from practice. Senior defensive captain,
Morgan Masiejczyk's unit will need to sell out on every play to limit West Chester's offensive opportunities. Junior
Natalie Sukanick and sophomore
Jasa Lorah lead the team in groundballs and caused turnovers. Their tenacity on the defensive end will be key to closing off passing and shooting lanes for West Chester.
• Junior midfield captain,
Erin Fagan will look to her unit to take opportunities away from West Chester at the draw. Sophomore
Sarah Leverentz and Fagan lead the team in draw control wins. Leverentz and freshman
Genevieve Speights also rank third and fourth in caused turnovers. Their skills in the midfield will help prevent West Chester from successfully clearing the ball into the offensive end.
• Senior attacking captain,
Sabrina Fusco will have her players thinking one thing - score goals. Fusco, Butzner, and senior
Callie Kavanaugh are currently playing some of their best lacrosse and combined for 37 points in their last two games. Along with Speights and Leverentz, who are also accomplished goal scorers from the midfield, the team is capable of scoring goals at will.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• No. 8 West Chester are a perfect 15-0 including 10 straight wins in the PSAC. The Golden Rams clinched a PSAC playoff spot a couple weeks ago, but they are still trying to clinch the one seed, with East Stroudsburg hanging one game behind West Chester.
• The Golden Rams earned their record with their offense and defense working in concert together. West Chester's 10.4 goal scoring margin ranks first in the conference. West Chester scored 244 goals which ranks second in the PSAC - two goals behind first-place, Millersville - and only allowed 88 goals which ranked first in the PSAC.
• West Chester, like Millersville, has a deep line up of goal scorers. Five players for the Golden Rams scored 20 or more goals this season. Sami Barnett leads West Chester this year with 45 goals and 17 more assists. At Millersville last year, Barnett led all scorers with three goals as the Golden Rams beat the Marauders, 11-6. The Millersville defense will need to focus on Barnett along with Tatum Altman and Maggie Stella. Shutting down West Chester's leading trio of scorers will help Millersville's upset bid.
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