| Lacrosse team setting its sights on Patriot League crown BY MIKE UNGER
Photos by Larry French |
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Moriah Linnell, above left, Laura Barnes, and Kathleen Finnegan, right, provide AU with veteran leadership.
Photo by John Mulcahy
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It’s been a tale of two seasons for the women’s lacrosse team thus far in 2006. Coach Ashley Flanigan’s young squad has struggled through a difficult nonconference schedule, but posted a 2-0 record against Patriot League foes. Flanigan is hoping that the high level of competition the Eagles have faced will pay dividends at the end of the year and produce a storybook ending. “Our strength of schedule is probably the most competitive in the Patriot League, which gives us better preparation going into the conference which is our main goal,” she said. “We want to work to get our Patriot League title back that we won in 2003.” Anchoring that effort will be senior goalie Kathleen Finnegan, a four-year starter. Finnegan earned Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week honors after stopping 11 shots in the Eagles’ March 18 win over Lafayette. “Finny above all is very reliable,” Flanigan said. “She’s a very consistent teammate. Her attitude, work ethic, communication, and leadership is always the same. She’s a great influence on our young team.” With just four seniors and two juniors mixed in among nine freshmen and eight sophomores, experience is at a premium this year for AU. The team’s lack of that important trait might be one explanation for its chronic slow starts in several games so far. Following a 15-7 loss to No. 3 Johns Hopkins on Sunday, AU’s record sits at 4-6. It takes the field at William I Jacobs Recreation Complex Thursday to face California-Davis. “We’re having a difficult time with the start of our games,” Flanigan said. “Two games in Florida we were down and came back in the second half, but you can’t dig yourself a hole too deep and expect to dig out of it. It’s too late. We need to come out stronger as a team in the first half, and we need to value the ball a lot better. We can’t have more than 10 turnovers a game. Collectively, we need everyone’s best effort.” The Eagles are guided offensively by senior Moriah Linnell, who last year led the team with 36 goals and 12 assists. The two-time All-Patriot League selection currently ranks third all-time in assists at AU. In the back, 2005 first team All-Patriot League player Laura Barnes is third all-time on AU’s ground balls list, a category, along with caused turnovers, that she led the team in last season. “Laura is a veteran who knows the game very well,” Flanigan said. “She’s kind of the backbone of the defense. Moriah is a great natural leader. She has a wonderful attitude, strong work ethic, and is a really tough player.” If AU is to make the Patriot League Tournament (only the top four schools qualify) and advance past the semifinals, the round in which it lost last year, it most likely will have to go through Holy Cross and Colgate, considered to be two of the league’s top teams. In her third year at the helm, the majority of Flanigan’s roster now comprises student-athletes she recruited. Despite the youth of her team, the coach believes her players have what it takes to challenge for the title. “With a young team in general, they’re so impressionable,” Flanigan said. “They retain things, and they absorb things, and they’re willing to learn. With the leadership and experience of the upperclassmen, they’ll continue to get better. The girls know the changes and adjustments we need to make. The quicker we do that the quicker you’ll see our team improve.” |
