Women's Collegiate Lacrosse Associates

They say that lacrosse is the fastest game on 2 feet; the same can be said for the speed of the lacrosse season as it is playoff time! The LSU Lady Tigers (4-1, 2-1) are headed to Austin, TX this weekend for the TWLL Conference Tournament in an effort to win the TWLL Automatic Qualifying bid for the WCLA Division 2 National Championship Tournament taking place May 7-9 in Virginia Beach, VA. LSU is headed to the TWLL Conference Tournament for the 2nd time, though they have qualified for the post-season event in each of the last 3 seasons. Last year, the Lady Tigers had to decline their bid as the tournament was scheduled the weekend of Easter which was also LSU’s Spring Break. Back in 2013, the Tigers won their 1st ever women’s lacrosse playoff game against Baylor 22-12 at a time when the TWLL only had 1 division for its member programs. Last season saw the implementation of the Division 1 & Division 2 breakdown within the conference, in which the University of Texas took the D1 crown & Southern Methodist took to the D2 crown. The Lady Tigers would have faced SMU in the semifinals had they been able to make the trip. The Mustangs went on to play 4 games at the National Tournament in which they did emerge with 1 victory in the Consolation Round vs. UC San Diego.

2015 allows for an opportunity in which the Tigers & Mustangs could face-off in the Division 2 Championship game, should they both survive their semifinal opponents. The 2 teams did not meet in the 2015 regular season. LSU, the #2 seed will take on #3 TCU (4-3, 2-2) at 8:30am in a quick rematch of last month’s nail biter in which the Tigers outlasted the Horned Frogs by a score of 18-17 at neutral location Texas A&M, in a rescheduled match-up that was supposed to have originally taken place in late February. Afterwards, at 10:30am, the #1 seed SMU (5-3, 4-0) will face a very tough #4 seeded Texas State (6-2, 3-2) in a post-season rematch from early in the season where the Mustangs took home the victory by a score of 18-8. The Bobcats also handed LSU their lone loss of the season last month by a score of 12-9. The winners of each semifinal contest will faceoff at approximately 12:30pm for the TWLL Division 2 Championship. The Division 1 semifinal game between #2 Texas A&M & #3 Baylor will then take place at approximately 2pm followed by the Division 1 Championship game at approximately 4pm with the winner taking on #1 Texas.

Last month, the LSU survived a TCU comeback late in the 2nd half on the heels of an 8 goal performance by Junior Taylor Reeves (Boston, MA) & a 12 save effort in cage by Junior Kaci Rogers (Winnfield, LA). Reeves is currently 2nd in TWLL Division 2 goals scoring at 26, needing just 3 goals this weekend to take the top spot. Meanwhile, Rogers leads in save percentage at .482, among starting goalies. Junior teammate Reese Gassie (Leonardtown, MD) sits behind Reeves with 19 goals & shows no signs of slowing down. The Tigers are looking to improve in 1 major area this time around against TCU & that is at the draw circle. The Horned Frogs simply dominated for draw controls in the previous match-up & LSU is working hard this week in preparation to turn the tables on that particular stat.
In Saturday’s semifinal the Tigers are facing an uphill battle as they are very likely to be without team assists leader Freshman Madison Murray (Shreveport, LA) at attack due to her academic schedule. Additionally, they are losing key team contributors, Juniors Ashley Leggett (Coto de Caza, CA) & Randi Fracassi (Blanchard, MI) who have work schedule conflicts. However, the team has experience this season shuffling the roster around to allow for alternate position players to pitch in where needed in order to come away victorious.
Freshmen Sydney Mulroy (Ellicott City, MD) & Maria Chavez (Colorado Springs, CO) along with Sophomore Erin Esh (Allen, TX) will likely start up at attack with the 4th slot to be decided upon by game time. They will trade positions throughout the game(s) with Juniors Reeves, Gassie, & Alaena Gadwill (Owings, MD) at midfield to spell shifts up & down the field. Freshmen Lauren Fontenot (Youngsville, LA), Dejanai Hilliard (Rockville, MD), & Junior Sabrina Benoit (Lake Arthur, LA) will likely find their play minutes mixed between defense, midfield, & attack. The defense will be the strength of LSU’s efforts this Saturday as Junior Maggie Durci (Shreveport, LA), who leads the squad with playoff experience, flanked by Seniors Teresa Guilbault (Woodstock, GA) & Tameka Gongs (Washington D.C.), Sophomore Katie Palmer (Baton Rouge, LA), Junior Steph Wilderspin (Essex, England), as well as the previously mentioned rotators.

You can keep up with this Saturday’s action via the LSU Women’s Lacrosse Club Facebook Page & Twitter Feed:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/LSU-Womens-Lacrosse-Club/219975431350011
https://twitter.com/lsuwomenslax