Goucher Graduate Janna Kaufman Set To Coach Israel In The 2019 European Championship Gold Medal Game On Thursday
BALTIMORE, Md. – Janna Kaufman, a 2007 Goucher College graduate and three-year letterwinner on the Gophers women's lacrosse team, will coach the Israel women's lacrosse team in the 2019 Women's Lacrosse European Championship Gold Medal Game on Thursday.
Israel will face the defending Women's Lacrosse European Champion England on Thursday at 1 p.m. EST. Fans wanting to watch the title bout can watch online courtesy of the Olympic Channel. The Kaufman-led Israel team is the host of the championships and will look to avenge a 12-3 loss on July 18 in pool play to England.
Kaufman's team went into the championship bracket as the No. 4 seed from Group A and faced the No. 1 seed Netherlands from Group B. Israel upset the top seed 15-5 on Monday to move onto a semifinal matchup with Wales, the No. 2 seed from Group A. Israel advanced to the gold medal match after defeating Wales 8-5 on Tuesday.
Kaufman led her team to a 3-2 record in pool play to advance to championship bracket. Her team started the tournament with wins against Germany (13-2) on July 15 and Scotland (12-6) on July 17. After falling to England, the Israel team came back to defeat Ireland (12-10) on July 19 before ending pool play with a 12-8 loss to Wales on Sunday.
Israel is one of 16 teams playing in the 11th edition of the tournament. The event is also serving as a qualifier for the FIL World Cup for the first time with 15 of 16 teams competing in this event expected to qualify for the next World Cup. Israel has started sponsoring lacrosse in the last 10 years and was one of the Top-4 teams coming into the competition.
Kaufman, an Atlanta, Georgia, native, played three years on the Goucher women's lacrosse team. She posted 45 ground balls and 18 caused turnovers in her first two seasons as a defender in 29 games including 28 starts. Kaufman then moved in between the pipes for her senior campaign, registering 151 saves, a 12.18 goals against average and a .487 save percentage in 14 contests including 13 starts. She registered 20 saves against Catholic in her senior campaign.
The Gophers as a team went 26-22 in her three seasons. Goucher advanced to the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) championship game in her first season and to the semifinals in her final two seasons with the Gophers falling to Salisbury on all three occasions. Kaufman was also a member of the final team that played in the CAC before moving to the Landmark Conference in 2008.