Gophers Appear Confident as New Season Approaches

Gophers Appear Confident as New Season Approaches

Three All-Landmark Performers Among Players Back from Last Year

February 24, 2009

TOWSON, Md. – There were some significant accomplishments by certain individuals: Emily Blatter concluded her career with a 43-game goal-scoring streak, the second-longest in NCAA Division III history, and Kate Knitter was selected to represent Goucher College in the 2008 Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association/Under Armour North/South Senior All-Star Game.

Some of the goals that head coach Katie Trainor and her players set last season were attained, such as earning a spot in the inaugural Landmark Conference championship game.

Still, it would be hard to find anybody associated with Goucher’s women’s lacrosse program who was satisfied with how the 2008 season turned out. After all, even though the Gophers won five games after April 1, they still ended up with a 6-10 record.

“One thing our difficult non-conference schedule did for us last year was prepare us for our first season in the Landmark Conference,” according to Trainor, who is into her fourth season as the head women’s lacrosse coach at Goucher. “We aren’t about to dilute the schedule in any way, so if we want to avoid the kind of record we had last year, we’re going to have to do a better job finishing what we start.”

“Too many times last season we wasted a strong start where we would take a four- or five-goal lead and then would not be able to put that opponent away. If we become better finishers, we can accomplish anything we set out to do.”

Trainor is optimistic that will happen.

“For one thing, I think that last season left a bad taste in the mouths of all of our returning players,” she explained. “They seem very dedicated to doing whatever it takes to succeed and working as hard as necessary to avoid a repeat.

“I also think, as a group, we are more confident heading into this season than we were at the same time last year. We now know that Brittany Foster (Portland, Maine/Portland), who was the first-team All-Landmark goalie in 2008, can do the job. We also know that we have a more balanced scoring attack and opponents aren’t going to be able to shut everybody down. We’ve also been able to develop some depth that wasn’t there last year and that should help us become better finishers.”

In senior Marlo Tersigni (Boston, Mass./Lawrence Academy), the Gophers have a player who was a first-team All-Landmark midfielder in 2008 that can win draws (83 draw controls), is an asset to the transition game and is the leading returning scorer (38 goals). Opposing defenses will also have to contend with senior attacker Sandy Okun (Stevenson, Md./McDonogh School) and sophomore midfielder Colleen Cole (Holliston, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hebron School), who scored a combined total of 33 goals last season.

The third all-conference performer back with the team in 2009 is senior midfielder/defender Jenny Lucey (Newbury, N.H./Kimball Union Academy), who supplied the Gophers with 25 ground balls, 19 draw controls and five caused turnovers.

Freshmen were forced to accept significant roles last season, so not only Cole, but defenders Sara Miller (Baldwin, Md./Dulaney) and Melissa Zimmerman (Morris Plains, N.J./Academy of St. Elizabeth), midfielder Sheila O’Neal (Antioch, Calif./Dunn School) and attacker Cindy Villarreal (Kensington, Md./Wheaton) enter their second seasons with the Gophers battle-tested.

The Gophers launch their 2009 season against McDaniel on Saturday.