Season Preview: High scoring Sea Gulls eye championships in '09

The 2009 Salisbury University women's lacrosse team is filled with experienced veterans and fresh faces ready to repeat as Capital Athletic Conference champions for a seventh straight year and make another run at a national championship.

The Gulls will enter to the season looking to fill the void that five very productive seniors left especially those spots vacated by All-Americans Sue Ackermann and Kelly Phillips and All-Region first team selection Jessica Liston.

Salisbury reached the national semifinals for a fourth time in five seasons in '08 as the maroon and gold won 22 straight games en route to a program best mark, 22-1. The Sea Gulls lost an 11-10 heartbreaker to Hamilton College in the semifinals. Salisbury set new NCAA records for goals (433), assists (230) and points (633) scored in a season. The three records they broke were set by the 2007 SU team that scored 376 goals, 195 assists for 571 points in 23 games. The difference between the two seasons is 62 points. In the past two seasons the Sea Gulls have accumulated a 43-3 overall record and scored over 1,200 points in 46 games.

This year's team will play a very competitive schedule that will hopefully prepare them to bring home that elusive first national championship for a program that has been so successful.

"I am really looking forward to this season. It will be another challenge," said SU coach Jim Nestor, who is entering his eighth season at the helm at his Alma Mater. "Our goal is to win the conference championship and make a strong run to the final four."

Salisbury ranks No. 3 in two preseason polls by Lacrosse magazine and The Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) preseason poll.

ATTACK
The Sea Gulls will fly into battle this season without their main point scorer from a year ago in Ackermann. This season Ackermann will be on the sidelines as an assistant coach for the maroon and gold. The 2008 NCAA Woman of the Year finalist leaves quite a legacy at SU as she graduated as the all-time leader in points (321) and assists (149). She was named a two-time All-American, a two-time CAC Player of the Year and an Academic All-American. In '08 she earned a slew of academic awards both locally and nationally. Ackermann led the nation in points (152) and was second in assists (70) in 23 games.

SU also loses Liston, an All-CAC and All-Region performer, who scored 37 goals and 10 assists last season. The tandem of Ackermann and Liston combined to account for almost 30 percent of the SU offensive production in '08.

 The Sea Gulls are expecting big things from returning juniors Beth Rhodey and Kim Cudmore. The tandem will lead the way as they were among the team leaders in many offensive categories last season. Rhodey was the No. 3 scorer for the Gulls a year ago as she tallied 57 goals and 17 assists for 74 points. She started in all 23 games while leading the team in game-winning goals (six) and free-position goals (10). Cudmore is also coming off a strong sophomore campaign where she was third on the team in assists (29) and fourth in both goals (43) and points (72). Sophomore Logan Bilderback (25 goals, 34 assists) will also see an increased workload in '09.

MIDFIELD
Salisbury's midfield is once again deep as several senior leaders will be looked upon to carry the Gulls into the new season. Senior Robyn Bishop, an All-American first team selection, and fellow senior Jessica Chmielewski, an All-American second team selection, will anchor the midfield unit.

Bishop is a very versatile midfielder that can play both offense and defense for the Sea Gulls. Last season she finished with 33 goals and six assists for 39 points. The senior midfielder led the team in ground balls (32), caused turnovers (29) and draw control wins (60). Chmielewski finished last season with 51 goals and 41 assists for 92 points on the season. Her assist total ranked 15th in the country while her point total was 16th best in the nation.

The midfield has a solid core of returning players that will compete for time including seniors Courtney Sorenson, Ashleigh Gender, Holly Johnson and Sarah Maggio. Sorenson put up 19 points last season with 11 goals and eight assists. Gender had a strong first season for the Gulls with 24 goals until a knee injury kept her out the last part of the season. She had a strong fall and will look to be a key part of the midfield. Johnson started 22 games last season and collected seven points on five goals and two assists while she won 22 draw controls. Maggio was primarily a defender last season but could see time in the midfield because her height and size could create matchup problems for other teams.

The Sea Gulls have several freshmen that look to contribute in their first seasons after strong performances in the fall they include; Alyssa Fowler, Allie Wheatley, Sarah Clemmens and Kerry Bray. Fowler played at Arundel High School where her team went 11-5 last season. Wheatley is local product that played at the Salisbury School. Clemons played at Towson High School where her team was the state final runners-up her senior season. Bray played at Wooten High School which went 15-1 in '08.

DEFENSE
The defense must replace Kelly Phillips, a two-time All-American, who helped anchor the fourth best defense in the nation as the maroon and gold only allowed 6.58 goals per game. Coach Nestor believes the defense could be his strongest and deepest area on the team.

"Defense is going to be our strong point this season," said Nestor. "We are loaded with talented players competing for spots on the field."

The Gulls welcome back two starters from last season in juniors Maddie Goetz and Jess Glazer. Goetz played and started in all 23 games last season and caused 10 turnovers. Glazer played and started in 20 games and forced 10 turnovers.

"Having Goetz and Glazer back is huge for our team as they do a great job communicating and organizing the team," said Nestor.

A variety of other players could see time on defense including seniors Sarah McKinley, Maggio, Johnson and sophomore transfer Aileen McCausland from St. Mary's (Md.) College. McKinley only played in one game last season before she suffered a season ending injury. She has worked hard over the fall to regain her '08 form pre-injury. Maggio forced four turnovers and collected eight ground balls on defense. Johnson had an impressive junior season as she forced 19 turnovers and collected 20 ground balls. McCausland transferred from St. Mary's where she was the Capital Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year in ‘08 and a second team all-conference selection.

GOALIE
Sonja Stuart returns for her senior season after she had a breakout year in which she was named to the All-Chesapeake Region second team. She finished her junior year ranked fifth in the nation with a 7.09 goals against average along with a .533 save percentage in over 1,000 minutes played. Stuart is a mentally tough goalie who makes great decisions with the ball.

Sophomore Julie Ann Caulfield will look to gain more experience in '09 as she played in seven games last season collected five saves.

SCHEDULE
The Sea Gulls women's lacrosse team will play arguably one of the most difficult schedules in Division III this season. Salisbury, a national semifinalist, is the only team from last year's final four to face three national semifinalists from '08 in '09. Rowan University and Ursinus College will also face three of four teams that made the national semifinals last season. The maroon and gold will play four teams ranked in the top six spots of Lacrosse magazine's preseason poll and one of the top six teams is Salisbury. If that is not enough the Gulls will matchup against seven of 24 teams that went to the NCAA tournament last season.

"We put together a strong schedule for this season, there is real tough stretch in the middle of the season against some highly competitive teams," said Nestor. "That will show us where we stand for the NCAA tournament later in the season."

Salisbury will open up its season at home against NCAA participant Christopher Newport University on February 18 at 3 p.m. SU is undefeated (5-0) in the all-time series against the Captains and hold a 96-24 goal scoring advantage. The Sea Gulls begin conference play four days later on February 22 with an away bout at Hood College. The maroon and gold return home for a three-game set before playing NCAA Regional finalist Catholic University of America on March 8. SU will host Marymount (Va.) University on March 11 and then travel to Randolph-Macon College on March 14. The Sea Gulls will take to the air and head to San Antonio, Texas on March 18 to square off against last year's NCAA Division III national champion Hamilton College. The game marks a rematch of last season's NCAA semifinals between the Gulls and the Continentals.

Salisbury will return and play a game at Roanoke College on March 21 before gearing up for the home stretch. In the last seven games for the Sea Gulls four will be against teams that made an appearance in the NCAA tournament last season. They will host No. 6 Colby College (NCAA Regional finalist) on March 24 and travel to No. 2 Franklin & Marshall College (NCAA National Championship runners-up) on March 29 to end the month. To finish off the season, SU plays CAC foe and NCAA quarterfinalist St. Mary's (Md.) College on April 4 and No. 5 The College of New Jersey (NCAA semifinalist) on April 11 at home followed by a home CAC game against rival University of Mary Washington. The CAC tournament kicks-off days later before the NCAA tournament begins in May.

SUMMARY
The 2009 Sea Gulls have some big shoes to fill and high expectations to live up to but the goals are still the same...bring home a national championship.

"This is a team that has something to prove after last season. They have the ability to do some great things if we stay focused," said Nestor.