Field Hockey | August 28, 2014

PHILADELPHIA - Another season of La Salle field hockey kicks off on Friday, when the Explorers travel to UMass Lowell for a two-game tournament. The squad opens with Holy Cross at noon on Friday and plays the host Riverhawks on Saturday at 2 p.m.

La Salle Explorers (0-0) vs. Holy Cross Crusaders (0-0)
at UMass Lowell
Friday, Aug. 29 | 12 p.m.
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La Salle Explorers (0-0) at UMass Lowell Riverhawks (0-0)
Saturday, Aug. 30 | 2 p.m.
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A Look at the 2014 Explorers...

The new-look Explorers welcome nine freshmen to the squad after the departure of six seniors last season. In addition to nine rookies, the young squad also has five sophomores for a total of 14 underclassmen while having just three seniors and four juniors. However, there is much to be excited about with the freshman class, which boasts a Regional All-American, all-state and all-conference honorees and players who led strong high school programs to conference and state championships.

"Preseason has started off really well," Head Coach Michelle Marks said. "I think the team chemistry has been very good. The intensity, the work rate and really just the overall attitude has been very good for the past two weeks."
 
The coaching staff and players are confident on the immediate impact of this year's large rookie group.

"We have a large freshman class this year and they're contributing a lot on the field and off the field," senior Maddy Tettelbach said. "We have great communication and an awesome positive attitude."

Junior Juliana Carfagno stated, "The freshman class is a little inexperienced, so we're working on getting together as a team and getting them the experience and making them feel comfortable but they're doing a really good job so far. I think we're really coming together and meshing well."

"We have high expectations and big goals to make it to the A-10 Tournament this year... and we're having fun," Carfagno added.

On the offensive side, Tettelbach is the leading returning scorer after posting seven goals and a team-high-tying eight assists in 2013. Tettelbach was an Atlantic 10 Second Team pick last season and a former All-Rookie selection in 2011. She will look to lead the offense while filling the scoring gaps left by last year's top two scorers - Olivia Shoemaker (14 goals, 5 assists, 33 points) and Mariel Papa (11 goals, 22 points) - as the two graduates combined for 25 of the team's 42 goals in 2013.

Also returning is Carfagno, who tied with Tettelbach with a team-high eight assists last year, as well as second-year players Devin Muracco (Atlantic 10 All-Rookie) and Abbey Lawrence, who posted two goals and two assists apiece in their rookie seasons.

"On attack, I think we have a lot of depth. I think we have the opportunity to really bring a lot of energy and quickness and speed up on the attacking line," Marks said. "We have probably anywhere from five to six people that are going to be able to interchange within those positions. They're going to be able to generate a lot of attack and a lot of scoring opportunities inside our attacking 35. 
 
In the midfield, again we have a lot of depth, we have a lot of people that are able to set into those positions, interchange with one another and really get us in a position to be able to keep possession and attack out of the midfield."

The defense will be particularly young, as the squad lost three starting defenders to graduation including three-year starting goalkeeper Lisa Shaffer as well as Jess Deaner and Heather Barretta. Olivia Leaman returns to anchor the backfield after posting a team-high five defensive saves last season and ranking 15th nationally in that category. Marks will also look for goalkeepers Rachel Hartman and rookie Brittany Paschall to step up in the role vacated by Shaffer. Hartman saw 54 minutes of action last year, making nine saves and giving up just two goals in 14 shots faced.

"On the defensive end, we're going to be very young," Marks added. "We lost three of our starting defenders, including our goalkeeper, so we have a lot of opportunities for our younger girls and more inexperienced girls to step up and really show us what they got."

In addition to this weekend's season-opening tournament at UMass Lowell, the Explorers continue on the road to start the 2014 season when they visit Columbia next Friday. Their home opener is set for Wednesday, Sept. 10, when Villanova pays a visit to Hank DeVincent Field. The team stays home that Saturday to play Rider and wraps up a three-game homestand with the Atlantic 10 opener on Friday, Sept. 19, against league-newcomer Davidson.

"We have a very competitive nonconference schedule to put us in contention to be able to compete at the highest level [in the Atlantic 10]," Marks said. "Our conference schedule has shifted from a five-week schedule to a seven-week schedule so we're going to be starting our conference competition earlier in September. [This] really gives us an opportunity to obviously see conference opponents earlier [and] be able to build over the course of the last third of our season so we can be on top of our game and ready to go for our conference championships in the second week of November.

Other nonconference games include Towson (9/28), Temple (10/12), Missouri State (10/19), Bryant (10/26) and Lehigh (11/2). The conference schedule also includes Lock Haven (9/26), VCU (10/3), Richmond (10/5), St. Francis (10/10), Saint Louis (10/17), Massachusetts (10/24) and Saint Joseph's (10/31).

"We're really excited to see what the 2014 La Salle field hockey team has to put in place," Marks said. "I think you're going to see a lot of good things coming from us - the chemistry, the intensity, and really just us coming out and working hard every single day."

The Matchups

The Explorers will face two squads this weekend that struggled last year. UMass Lowell, fresh off its Division II national runner-up title the year prior, went 2-16 overall and 1-4 in the America East Conference in its first year as a Division I program. The Explorers and Riverhawks faced off in Philly last year, with the Explorers taking a 3-0 win behind two goals from Olivia Shoemaker and one from Mariel Papa. Lowell lost its leading scorer to graduation but returns Georgia Cowderoy, last year's second-leading scorer who posted five goals and two assists for 12 points. The team is also young with 12 newcomers and just 10 returners, and also seeks to fill a goalkeeper position vacated by Melanie Hopkins, who played all possible minutes last season. The Riverhawks were selected to finish fifth out of six in the America East in the coaches' preseason poll.

Holy Cross went 5-12 overall last year and 1-5 in the Patriot League, and were picked seventh out of seven in the Patriot League preseason poll. The Crusaders return 2013 leading scorer Katy Cronin (5 goals, 3 assists), and have options in the goal as both keepers who saw time last year return this season. Kat Matchett started 13 games, posting a 2.65 goals against average and .694 save percentage. Maya Langman started four games and saw time in six, posting a 4.28 GAA and .655 save percentage.

Next Up

The Explorers remain on the road, visiting Columbia on Friday, Sept. 5, at 5 p.m.