VERMONT WOMEN'S LACROSSE NOTEBOOK
The University of Vermont women's lacrosse team hosts Manhattan on Wednesday (March 30) and travels to nationally ranked Stony Brook for the first America East road game of the season on Saturday (April 2).
 
RELATED LINKS
Manhattan Game Coverage – Live Video (free)
Stony Brook Game Coverage – Live Stats | Live Video (free)
 
CATS AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS
Goals Per Game - Vanessa VanderZalm (4/22, 2.75); Alison Bolt (8/18, 2.00)
Assists Per Game - Alex Bernier (3/17, 1.89); Meredith Moore (6/12, 1.33).
Points Per Game – Alex Bernier (7/31, 3.44); Vanessa VanderZalm (9/27, 3.38); Alison Bolt (10/29, 3.22)
Ground Balls Per Game - Vanessa VanderZalm (3/21, 2.62)
Draw Controls – Vanessa VanderZalm (1/32, 4.00); Brynne Yarranton (3/29, 3.22).
Caused Turnovers – Vanessa VanderZalm (14/1.74)
Goals Against Average – Maddy Kuras (6/12.36)
Save Percentage – Maddy Kuras (7/.378)
Saves Per Game – Maddy Kuras (4/6.00)

 

THANK YOU!
Thanks to everyone who donated to the UVM women's lacrosse Friends of Jaclyn fundraising campaign. The team reached its goal of raising $1,000 for the foundation. Friends of Jaclyn is a foundation that aims to improve the quality of life for children battling pediatric brain tumors and other childhood cancers by pairing them with a college team. Last season, the UVM women's lacrosse team welcomed Alison Pyle and her family to the Catamount Family through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation. Alison was the honorary captain for the Catamounts on Saturday when she and her family joined the team for the first game under the lights at Virtue Field.
 
RECORD CHECK
Alex Bernier needs one more assist to move into the top-10 all-time single season assist leaders at Vermont. She begins the week with 17 this season. Bernier has recorded half of her career total in points (60) during the first nine games of this season. She leads the team with 31 points on 14 goals and 17 assists.
 
Vanessa VanderZalm is five goals shy of moving into third among the all-time leaders and passing former standout Kristen Millar '09. VanderZalm has 136 goals in 60 career games leads the team in scoring with 22 tallies this season.
 
SCOUTING MANHATTAN
The Jaspers stand at 4-4 on the year and are 2-0 against America East teams this season. Manhattan posted a 12-11 overtime victory against UMass Lowell and a 13-11 win over New Hampshire in its last outing on March 19.
 
Stefanie Ranagan leads five players with double-digit goals. She has tallied 18 goals and has a team-high 22 points. She also leads the team with 38 draw controls. Megan Yarusso ranks second on the team in scoring with 20 points and 16 goals and Claire Roediger has handed out team-leading nine assists.
 
Nikki Prestiano is the team's top goalkeeper having started six of the seven games. She owns a 9.90 goals against average and .400 save percentage.
 
The Jaspers are averaging 11 goals per game, while giving up 12.5 to opponents this season.
 
THE SERIES
Wednesday is the third meeting between the two teams and the first since 2004. The all-time series stands at 1-1. The Catamounts defeated the Jaspers in Riverdale, New York in the first meeting in 2002. Manhattan evened the series with a win over the Catamounts at a neutral site game in Troy, New York in 2004.
 
SCOUTING STONY BROOK
The Seawolves begin the week ranked 8th in the Inside Lacrosse Poll, 9th in the LacrosseMagazine Poll and 11th in the IWLCA Poll. Stony Brook swept the America East weekly honors on Monday. Kylie Ohlmiller was named the Offensive Player of the Week, Alyssa Fleming was the Defensive Player of the Week and Anna Tesoriero was the Rookie of the Week.
 
Ohlmiller scored nine goals in wins over Jacksonville and No. 9/8 Stanford for the No. 14/12 Seawolves. Fleming tallied eight caused turnovers during the 2-0 week, including six against Stanford. Tesoriero, a goalkeeper, recorded a .618 save percentage and 6.50 goals against average in the two games.
 
The game versus Vermont marks the league opener for Stony Brook, which stands at 6-3 overall. Courtney Murphy leads the league in goals (36) and points (39), while Ohlmiller is fourth in assists (16) and sixth in points (33). Tesoriero leads the team in goals against average (7.07) and is second in save percentage (.505).
 
THE SERIES
Stony Brook leads the all-time series 9-5. The two teams have split the last two meetings with Vermont posting an 8-7 overtime win over the Seawolves in Burlington in 2014. Last season Stony Brook posted a 12-5 victory in Burlington.
 
WHO'S NEXT
Vermont hosts UMass Lowell on April 3 and will travel to Durham, New Hampshire on April 9 for a pair of America East contests next week.