ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (May 4, 2016) - The Molloy College women's lacrosse team enters its third straight East Coast Conference Tournament on Thursday (May 5) with an 11-win season in the bag and a two-game winning streak to close out the regular season campaign. Being the No. 4 seed in the ECC Championship means that the Lions will have the daunting task of staring down the top-seed, as the maroon and white will face No. 1 Dowling in Suffolk County at 7 p.m. It will be a battle that will test the Lions for everything they have and it will be a chance for Molloy to puncture the glass ceiling and make the conference title game for the first time in program history.
About the Lions
- Molloy is averaging over 12 goals per contest, outscoring opponents by a 210-177 margin this season. Three players have totaled over 35 goals for the maroon and white, led by junior midfielder
Cooper Sesselman (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) and her team-high 40 goals this season. Freshman midfielder
Brianna Wilson (Levittown, N.Y.) has 38 goals and sophomore attacker
Jessica Markowitz (Baldwin, N.Y.) has 36.
- The goalscoring has been constant thanks to a steady stream of assists from
Meghan Orlando (Hicksville, N.Y.) (43 this season) and
Katie O'Brien (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) (23 in 2016). Additionally, the Lions' defense has played a starring role in creating turnovers and forcing chances; Molloy is plus-21 (147-126) in team turnovers caused with eight players totaling 10 or more CTOs this season.
- The net play has been steady all season thanks to red-shirt junior
Caroline Winters (Baldwin, N.Y.), whose 10-6 record is bolstered by a .498 save percentage and a 10.22 goals-against average.
About the Golden Lions
- Dowling won all eight conference games this season (including a 12-8 victory against Molloy on Apr. 27) to clinch the No. 1 seed in the ECC Tournament and host a home game for the third time in as many seasons (also third time in as many ECC Tournaments). The Golden Lions find themselves currently ranked No. 9 in the IWLCA's latest Division II poll behind regional opponents Adelphi (No. 1), Le Moyne (No. 2) and LIU Post (No. 5).
- Dowling's offense is averaging almost 15 goals per game while yielding 7.3 goals per contest. The Golden Lions have exactly twice as many goals (248) as the opponents (124) and have the tenth-best scoring margin in the country.
- The defense has been superb, causing 11.29 turnovers per game which is fourth-best in the NCAA. Meanwhile, goalie Lauren Young (Centereach, N.Y.) has been superb in net with a 15-2 overall record and a top-15 goals-against average (7.64).
