Women's Lacrosse 2016 Season Recap
Jun 02 | Women's Lacrosse
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers women's lacrosse may not have started the season as it hoped, but the Scarlet Knights kicked their play into a new gear down the stretch, achieving program milestones and capturing undeniable momentum entering year three in the Big Ten Conference.
Winners of three of its final four games to close the season - the only blemish coming against national runner-up and three-time finalist, Maryland - RU proved the doubters wrong with a pair of top-20 wins and Big Ten Tournament Semifinal berth. In the process, the Scarlet Knights doubled their Big Ten Conference win total from their inaugural season and gained invaluable experience for a youthful returning roster.
"It was a good culmination of the work and progress that went into the whole season. We were just waiting for a time that the team would come together for a full 60 minutes. We had enjoyed glimpses of it for 20 minutes here and there and it was nice to have everyone get to a point where it clicked," said head coach Laura Brand-Sias. "They really brought everything together and everyone was on the same page and people were playing their best lacrosse down the stretch. Ultimately that's what you want - you want to peak at the end of the season. Moving forward I think it gives us a good opportunity."
Out of conference, Rutgers captured victories against Villanova (14-8) on Feb. 12, Lafayette (19-7) on March 16, and Hofstra (18-13) on March 25. In that stretch the Scarlet Knights fell by four or fewer goals four times, with three losses coming against teams ranked in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Top 20.
However, the Scarlet Knights clicked late in the conference season. After finishing out a loss at No. 12 Northwestern on a 5-1 run, RU carried momentum into its next contest at home against No. 15 Ohio State at High Point Solutions Stadium. Rutgers prevailed in overtime, 13-12, in front of a national audience on Big Ten Network by putting together its best performance of the year. Attacker Halley Barnes (Garnet Valley, Pa.) scored six goals and the game-winner in overtime.
"Towards the end of the season we had some key players putting in a lot of extra time outside of practice, doing a lot of individual work, watching a lot of film and really putting in time to change their game," Brand-Sias said. "I think that gave some really key people confidence down the stretch. It's a mentality, being able to just flip that switch and compete for 60 minutes."
The Scarlet Knights rolled from that point forward. The team dominated Michigan on Senior Day, 16-6, to earn the No. 4 seed for the Big Ten Conference Tournament. Four Scarlet Knights posted multi-goal games, paced by a career-high seven goals and an assist from leading scorer Kristina Dunphey (Hillsborough, N.J.).
In another meeting against the ranked Buckeyes in the Big Ten Quarterfinals, Rutgers proved its regular season win was no fluke. The Scarlet Knights forced overtime for the second-straight meeting against OSU, and again came out on top. Attacker Amanda Turturro (Farmingdale, N.Y.) played the role of hero this time around, weaving around cage for the unassisted game-winner.
Despite falling against top-ranked Maryland in the Big Ten Semifinals, RU took big steps forward toward a successful 2017 campaign.
RU will have big shoes to fill on the attack next season with the loss of 100-point career scorers Kim Kolodny (Farmingdale, N.Y.) and Barnes. Still, the Scarlet Knights return 60 percent of their scoring from 2016, namely IWLCA All-Mid-Atlantic First Team selection, Dunphey. Turturro doubled her point total from a year prior in her junior campaign, while underclassmen Abbey Brooks (Moorestown, N.J.), Joanna Reilly (Spring Lake, N.J.), and Paige Paratore (West Deptford, N.J.) all tallied double-digit point totals.
"One of the key changes we'll be looking to make is someone like JoJo Reilly, who we mainly used on the inside, is really going to have to diversify her game," Brand-Sias said. "Certainly Kristina Dunphey is going to be everyone's top player on their scouting report next year, so how are we going to use that to our advantage? Amanda Turturro had a breakout season this year and doubled her point total, so we expect her to pick up where she left off.
"Kerri Puckhaber (Wantagh, N.Y.) got good time for us and has been getting good time for the past two years, so we'll have some expectations for her to step up and elevate her game as she becomes an upperclassman. Abbey Brooks got a lot of nice minutes this year, and Emily Santana got good time. We'll have Chrissy Schreiber back after she missed some time this season, and she has that experience as a fifth-year senior. And of course we have some other freshmen and sophomores and underclassmen that got a lot of time in practice and were developing really well. There is a ton of opportunity on the offensive side of the ball."
At the midfield and defensive phases, the Scarlet Knights will be steered by the leadership of IWLCA All-Mid-Atlantic Region selection, Amanda Casten (Brick, N.J.). What's more, six of the 11 listed midfielders from 2016 were underclassmen. That development is crucial for continued improvement in 2017.
"Midfield-wise, we're losing Kristin Kocher (Medford, N.J.) as a senior, but overall I thought our midfield developed really well this year because they're all sophomores. And outside of that Regina Sharp (Suffern, N.Y.) really started to get time defensively, so we'll be moving her into more of a midfield role.
"Defensively, we're going to try to play a little heavier midfield system to replace some of what we lost. Having Taylor Pennell (New Egypt, N.J.) graduate is going to be a big part of our transition. Losing Kristin as one of our best matchup defenders as well, we'll have some holes to fill there."
Brand-Sias returns for her 14th season in 2017 with plenty of optimism for the direction of the program. Not only did the Scarlet Knights surge to end the season, both assistant coaches - Katie Hertsch and Taryn VanThof - were drafted into the inaugural United Women's Lacrosse League (UWLX), displaying the breadth of skill and experience on staff.
"Once people come here and see what we have to offer, they have a completely different perspective that they had before," Brand-Sias said. "There are great things happening in the program. In terms of assistant coaches, you've got two really solid players that are going to be able to help develop their games. We lucked out to have the opportunity to have three competitive games on national television. Not only does that expose us to recruits, but also to people that are in the Rutgers family that maybe don't know a ton about women's lacrosse and are excited about being in the Big Ten and see women's lacrosse do something exciting in the conference."
Brand-Sias' optimism is magnified by the fact that the returning players are eager to put together a full season of Rutgers women's lacrosse in 2017.
"We see our underclassmen a lot," Brand-Sias said. "They do a lot of individual work, spend a lot of time in the weight room, do a lot of extra film sessions. They've really grasped onto how much extra time they need to put in to really develop. They need to continue with that, whether it's in the weight room, whether it's with their conditioning, whether it's stick work, whether it's coming in and watching more film.
"Whatever it might be, just making sure we're consistent with the fact that we need to be doing those extra things outside of practice to help develop the people individually as much as possible. I think the positive thing is that this group that's returning next year, the key core of them was really committed to doing that extra work."
Rutgers Women's Lacrossse 2016 Postseason Notes
- Rutgers played against six schools that made the NCAA Tournament, including two Final Four participants in Penn State and national runner-up Maryland.
- The program qualified for a conference tournament semifinal for the second time in three seasons.
- RU earned its first conference tournament win since 1998 and second in program history against Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals.
- The Scarlet Knights recorded multiple overtime wins in the same season for the first time since 2012.
- For the first time since 2010, Rutgers has recorded multiple ranked wins in a season. Both wins came over Ohio State this season when it was ranked No. 15 on April 21 and No. 19 on May 5.
- It was the first time since 1998 that Rutgers has defeated a conference opponent twice in the same season.
- The Scarlet Knights secured the No. 4 seed for the 2016 Big Ten Tournament, the highest B1G seed in program history. It was the highest postseason seed for Rutgers since claiming the No. 4 spot for the 2014 BIG EAST Tournament.
- The team had three players with at least 40 points for the first time in at least 10 seasons. The Scarlet Knights previously had two players break 40 points in the same year twice over the last decade.
- Two players - Halley Barnes and Kim Kolodny - reached the 100-point milestones for their careers during their senior seasons in 2016.
- Had two players - junior Kristina Dunphey and sophomore Amanda Casten - named 2016 Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division I All-Mid-Atlantic Region. Dunphey was placed on the first team, while Casten was placed on the second team.
- Rutgers had at least two all-region players in the same season for the 14th time in the last 15 season.
- Dunphey and Casten were both named to the 2016 All-Big Ten team. Sophomore Joanna Reilly was named the team's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner.
- Sophomore Paige Paratore and junior Amanda Turturro were named to the 2016 Big Ten Women's Lacrosse All-Tournament Team.
- Three Scarlet Knights took home Big Ten Player of the Week honors in 2016. Bianca Dente was named Defensive Player of the Week on May 3, Halley Barnes earned Offensive Player of the Week on April 26, and freshman Abbey Brooks secured the Rookie of the Week Award on March 22.
- Barnes was named IWLCA National Player of the Week and Baltimore Sun National Player of the Week after scoring six goals, including two game-tying goals and the game-winner, in a 13-12 overtime upset against No. 15 Ohio State on April 21.
- Both Rutgers women's lacrosse assistant coaches - Taryn VanThof and Katie Hertsch - were drafted into the inaugural United Women's Lacrosse League (UWLX). Hertsch was selected by the Philadelphia Force, while VanThof was drafted by the Long Island Sound. The 10-week 2016 UWLX season began on May 28 during NCAA Women's Lacrosse Final Four weekend. VanThof scored a goal in a win for the Long Island Sound.
- Dunphey closed the season as Rutgers' goal (44), points (56) and draw control (31) leader.
- Kolody closed out her senior season with a career-high 47 points (32g, 15a) and ends her career with 111 points (84g, 27a) overall.
- Barnes ended her senior campaign with a career-high 41 points (35g, 6a) and ends her career with 108 points (86g, 22a) overall.
- Turturro led Rutgers in 2016 with 18 assists.
- Casten paced RU with 17 caused turnovers and 30 ground balls in 2016.
- Rutgers women's lacrosse earned an APR Public Recognition Award by finishing in the top 10 percent among NCAA schools in each of the last four seasons dating back to the 2011-12 academic year. In each of those seasons, the program scored a perfect 1,000.
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