Gophers Return Pair of All-Region Performers

Gophers Return Pair of All-Region Performers

Feb. 26, 2008

TOWSON, Md. - One can't take a look at Goucher's 2008 women's lacrosse roster without noticing fewer names than you would expect for a Division III program.

But don't for a moment make the mistake of thinking that the lack of quantity could hint at a lack of quality.

Talent is one of the things that Goucher seems to have more of than most of the other teams that head coach Katie Trainor's Gophers will face in her third season at the helm.

"We'd like to have more numbers. That's something we will address for future years and there's a chance we will add a few players before we open the season against Guilford (on March 1)," Trainor said a few days before greeting her players at the start of preseason practices. "But I'm excited to get things started and see how well we perform this season."

Few Division III programs, no matter how many players they carry on their roster, can boast having two returning all-region performers. But in senior attacker Emily Blatter (Lexington, VA/Rockbridge County) and senior midfielder Kate Knitter (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge), the Gophers have a pair of players who earned first-team All-Chesapeake Region honors in 2007 from the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association.

"Emily and Kate have had done some great things and been a big part of our success during the three years they've been here at Goucher," according to Trainor. "I'd like to think both of them will be up for a lot of postseason honors again following their senior year."

Blatter and Knitter supplied the Gophers with combined totals of 103 goals and 48 assists last season. Blatter ranked fifth in Division III in points per game at 5.88 and has tallied at least one goal in 27 consecutive games dating back to the 2006 season; Knitter averaged 3.06 draw controls and 3.50 ground balls per game in 2007 and was credited with the game-winning goal in three of the Gophers' eight victories.

Goucher's only other senior is a solid defensive specialist who has started 35 games during her career, Liz Robertson (Greenwood Village, CO/Cherry Creek).

"No doubt about it, we'll need big years from our three seniors if we're going to do the things we think we are capable of doing," commented Trainor.

Just like the senior class, the junior contingent boasts a pair of offensive threats in midfielder Marlo Tersigni (Worcester, MA/Lawrence Academy) and attacker Sandy Okun (Stevenson, MD/McDonogh School). In her two seasons at Goucher, Tersigni has scored 64 times and been awarded 10 assists; Okun has already collected 46 goals and an assist.

After two seasons as a field player, junior Brittany Foster (Portland, ME/Portland) is going to take a crack at playing in goal. Jenny Lucey (Newbury, NH/Kimball Union Academy), a junior who appeared in 27 games in her first two seasons with the Gophers, rounds out the list of returning letterwinners.

New in 2008: six freshmen and a conference. Goucher has left the Capital Athletic Conference, its home for the past 16 years, to join the Landmark Conference.

"It may take a few years for the Landmark Conference to establish itself as a top Division III conference for women's lacrosse," said Trainor, "but I think the potential is there."