KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's lacrosse team travels to Millersville University on Wednesday, April 6, for a 4 p.m. matchup, having won four of six away games this season.
Kutztown is coming off of an overtime loss to Slippery Rock University on Saturday. The Senior Day game was extremely competitive and a major change from the past matchup between the two teams. In the 2015 season, Kutztown lost by eight to Slippery Rock, while on Saturday, KU scored twice in the final five minutes to send the game to overtime.
This season marks the most wins in a season not only for head coach
Kate Scattergood, but for the KU program since its 2008 reinstatement. Scattergood has led the team to be 6-6, 2-5 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).
The team's underclassmen are making an impressive statement in their first years. KU's top-six scorers are all freshman and sophomores, led by a pair of sophomores that have begun to separate themselves from the pack.
Sarah Gabriele (Felton, Pa./York Catholic) shot at goal for the 100th time this season at Saturday's game. As a sophomore, she leads the team and the PSAC with 100 shots-on-goal. She has scored a team-leading 35 times this year, seventh in KU single-season history. Her 68 career goals also rank seventh at KU.
Lauren Huggins (Media, Pa./Penncrest) continues to make her presence on the field with 18 assists, making her third in single-season records. She's also scored a career-high 29 times, three shy of moving into the top-nine at KU.
Looking at the freshmen class,
Makayla Bowman (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) has scored a notable 18 goals, third on the team. Now-injured
Reilly Donovan (Bel Air, Md./Patterson Mill) comes up second in groundballs for the team at 29.
Lauren Schmidt (Hanover, Pa./South Western) has caused 13 turnovers along with fellow freshman
Emily Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Hubert Catholic), who caused 12.
KU leads the PSAC with 274 collective groundballs and 132 caused turnovers. The team is also outscoring its opponents for the first time since the reinstatement of the program in 2008, 320-268.
Millersville (6-5, 3-4 PSAC) is led by Bridget Hufnagel and Sabrina Fusco, who have both scored more than 30 goals. Hufnagel also owns the draw control, winning 41 this season for fifth in the PSAC. Three Marauders have cleaned up more than 20 groundballs each.
Millersville is second in the PSAC in draw controls with 170, significantly higher than Kutztown's 132. The Golden Bears will have to gain possession right from the draw to be successful.
The Golden Bears and Marauders show a lot of similarities statistically and promise a competitive matchup. The teams both average 19.5 shots-on-goal per game. Both teams contributed 58 assists as well. Kutztown, however, outshoots Millersville 320-301.
In KU's goal,
Jen Bergey (Souderton, Pa./Souderton) has made 48 saves leading her to a .444 save percentage. Bergey has a record of 5-2 and has worked her way toward being an everyday starter. Sharing time with Bergey is
Abby Cox (York, Pa./West York), who has made 42 saves with a .408 save percentage. Millersville's goal is covered by Bryana Weston-Wyatt, who has made 57 saves with a .358 save percentage.
The team remains on the road for its next two games. Kutztown will play at nationally-ranking East Stroudsburg University on April 12, at 4 p.m., and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) on Saturday, April 16, at 1 p.m.
