Burrini, who has had to do far more than just coach this season, coming off this win said that she believed the girls will keep the momentum going and continue to work hard and the hard work will show on the scoreboard. For a team that has taken more than its share of body blows this season, her youthful enthusiasm and positive attitude has been therapy for a team. Burrini saw a need to lift the team’s dwindling spirits, after being outscored 49-21 in their first three losses.

Burrini has done a remarkable job of trying to accentuate the positives while stressing that winning was not everything. She said that after their third loss, she could feel attitudes changing and some girls giving up hope. Then, they implemented a player of the game award to whoever had a great game and this has become something every girl wants to achieve.

Burrini was born in Runnemede. She attended Kean University where she played field hockey and lacrosse all four years. Burrini teaches health and physical education at Dunellen High School and she is a current resident of Union. In her first high school head coaching position, she has also learned the power of positive reinforcement.

On finding the positives from the game, almost all post-game talks were focused and staying mentally tough. When the Cougars relinquished several second half leads, there were some losses that were very tough, especially a 13-12 loss at Morristown-Beard on April 20. Roman has been a consistent scorer, averaging over three goals a game in spite of the team’s misfortunes.

In addition to Mason, Erica Faraone, Roman, Hartnett and sophomore Lucy Allen pace the offense. Among the top newcomers to watch have been freshmen attackers Elyse Mackenzie and Kira Statue and freshman defender Beth Folton. Sophomores Liz Bender and Emily Roman are two top defense leaders.

As the seventh seeded Cavaliers collected their fourth National Collegiate Athletic Association title under coach Dom Starsia, Colin Briggs scored a career high five goals. He did not play in Saturday’s semifinals after being suspended due to a violation of team rules. He earned the most outstanding player award as he scored three times on uncontested shots and twice beat defenders 1-on-1.

For the Cavaliers, Matt White added three more goals and Nick O’Reilly had a goal and four assists. For unseeded Maryland (13-6), Grant Catalino had two goals and an assist whereas Goalie Niko Amato made eight saves.

Virginia became the lowest seeded team to claim the title, which has won crowns in 1972, 1999, 2003 and 2006. With the most wins with Virginia’s 13-9 quarterfinal win over second seeded Cornell, Starsia, 59, became the college lacrosse coach. In 1999, 2003 and 2006, he also led the Cavaliers to NCAA titles.

With scores by Briggs and Matt White, Virginia responded. The Terrapins went 3-2 ahead when Owen Blye scored as John Haus then tied it. With two more goals from Briggs and one from Nick O’Reilly, Virginia made it 5-3 at halftime.

By scoring on the Greyhounds’ senior All-American goalie Matt Sommerfeldt 47 seconds into the game, senior All-American attacker Adam Seal started the Longhorns’ offense. Seal finished the first half with four goals, who is a High Point (N.C.) University signee. In the first two quarters for Pope, junior attacker Corbin Jensen poured in three of his four goals. By keeping constant pressure on Sommerfeldt Lambert (21-1) led Pope (17-4) at the half 5-3.

The Longhorns stretched the lead to 7-3 on a goal by senior midfielder Timmy Geran in the third and the visitors mounted their strongest charge of the night. With 10:43, sophomore midfielder Brayton Wadella’s goal got Pope back to within one goal at 8-7, but Seal quickly countered with his fifth and final goal less than a minute later as that was the end of Pope’s scoring.

As Lambert outscored Pope six goals to two, the difference in the game came in the fourth quarter. At the 10:10 mark of the fourth period, Lambert’s Adam Seal put in his fourth goal of the game. In the final quarter of play, Pope’s Corbin Jensen also scored his fourth goal of the contest. When five different Longhorns scored in the final four minutes of the game, Lambert took control of the game.

While senior attack man David Lau was named second team, joining Pannell on the first team is junior midfielder Roy Lang and senior defender Max Feely. The sophomore defensive duo of Jason Noble and Mike Bronzino are both honorable mention All-Ivy selections.

To earn Player of the Year honors, Pannell is the 16th Big Red player in men’s lacrosse program history and is just the second Cornellian to win the award twice in his career, joining Eamon McEneaney (1975, ’77). The Tewaaraton Trophy nominee currently leads the nation in points per game (5.46) and assists per game (2.85), while ranking fifth overall in goals per game (2.62).

Pannell was named the Ivy League Player of the Week four times and is on the verge of moving into Cornell’s top 10 lists for single season points, goals and assists. He is also the first Big Red player since 2001 to lead Cornell in points, goals and assists in the same season

Joining Pannell as a 2011 individual award winner is Princeton freshman midfielder Tom Schreiber, who was voted the League’s Rookie of the Year by the seven Ivy head coaches and is also a first-team All-Ivy honoree. A native of East Meadow, N.Y., Schreiber becomes the second consecutive Tiger to earn the award, as Mike Chanenchuk earned the honor in 2010.

There have been five occurrences in which the Ivy League women’s lacrosse Player and Rookie of the Year were members of the same squad, prior to the 2011 season. Collins caps a stellar career in a Big Green uniform with Dartmouth’s first Player of the Year honoree since Katieanne Christian in 2005 and sixth all time.

Either to score a goal or pick up an assist the Orange had 10 players. With two goals, Stephen Keogh, Jeremy Thompson and Kevin Drew all led SU. Thompson had a team high three points as he also picked up an assist.

Each scoring once, Tommy Palesek, Josh Amidon, Jovan Miller, Pete Coleman, Bobby Eilers, Scott Loy and Matt Harris rounded out the attack. It was his first career goal for the freshman Harris. In goal, John Galloway made five saves.

Early in the first Hobart’s Sam Miller tied the game at 1-1. The Orange then went on a 6-1 to blow the game open. Syracuse’s offense has not been the team’s strongpoint this season. But while the offensive dominance may have been new to this SU team, Johnson was used to seeing it from the Orange.

As the Statesmen opened the quarter with a goal to make it 7-4, they made it interesting in the third. The Orange pieced together a 6-1 run to push the lead to 13-5 although like they did in the first half. Hobart tacked on two goals late. On Saturday, Syracuse (11-1) plays Rutgers in Hartford, Conn.

A senior midfielder Andrews netted four goals and assisted one. As they defeated Severn, 12-9, every senior on the Saints’ attack unit contributed in scoring and redeemed a bitter 10-9 overtime loss to the Admirals last season. Including Andrews, ten upperclassmen on the Saints’ team, recorded at least one goal or one assist, and senior keeper Megan Ward made seven saves.

As Andrews beat her defender left she gave them an early 2-0 lead on an unassisted goal. She caught a pass from Casey Brogan, faked low and scored on a high shot for a 6-3 lead with 4 minutes, 29 seconds remaining.

In the final 1:19 of the first half Severn struck back with two goals. Kelly Reese followed with her first of two scores on a feed from Katie Carroll with just 21 seconds to cut the Admirals’ deficit to one at halftime as Alexa Kunowsky scored her first of two goals.

The Saints scored three in a row and came out on fire in the second half. Lauren Molina lifted them to a 9-5 lead with 20:47 left as Brogan tallied back to back goals, the second on an assist from Kaeli Smith.

The Bearcats (1-6) 33-12 outshot by Drexel (4-1) and had seven players score at least one goal. At Vidas Field the Dragons are now 2-0.

While teammate Kelli Joran tied her career high with two goals, Sophomore Alyse Maiden tied her career high with three goals. On the season Maiden now has 13 goals. For the Dragons, Drexel’s Katie Blazer, Charlotte Wood, and Jaclyn Klunder recorded assists.

After an unassisted goal by Maiden at 22:04, the Dragons started a 7-0 run. By creating a solid lead for Drexel, Kelli Joran, Kaitlin Harris, Amanda Norcini, Katie Blazer, and Amanda Gregg put points on the board. Binghamton‘s Beth Moore scored an unassisted goal and looked to create momentum for the Bearcats.

Binghamton’s Ali Castiglie scored another quick goal, with less than two minutes remaining in the first half. For the rest of the game, the Dragons were up by five, 7-2, at the end of the first half and held on to the lead.

Throughout the game, Drexel’s defense kept pressure on the Bearcats. To Drexel’s 11, Binghamton finished with 21 turnovers. Senior goalkeeper Whitney Johnson registered five saves and four groundballs. In groundballs Johnson and Maiden lead the Dragons. At Vidas Field, the Dragons return to action on Sunday, March 20 at 1:00 p.m. against La Salle.

Both teams are undefeated this season, as Virginia is 4-0, and Syracuse is 3-0. The betting odds for this matchup have not yet published in sports betting sites.

Dating to 1938, the schools have met 26 times. However the series really began in 1994, when they began meeting annually often more than once. The Cavaliers and Orange have faced off 23 times, including seven meetings in the NCAA tournament, since that year. UVa has netted 316 goals, in those meetings whereas the Orange has 314.

While coaching at a NCAA Division I school, Virginia head coach Dom Starsia brings 320 career victories into the contest, needing seven more triumphs to pass Jack Emmer (326) for most victories by a head coaching.

Even though the lone Orange victory in that recent stretch was a double overtime triumph in the NCAA semifinals en route to the 2008 title, Virginia has taken three of the last four meetings. All four of those games were one goal decisions.

In the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association coaches poll, suitably, the teams enter this week tied for the No. 1 ranking. Last season in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers gave up five extra man goals in the first half but came back to prevail 11-10.

Joel White, Syracuse University lacrosse player, talks about the excitement and challenge of playing Virginia on Friday night. White, a two year team captain, and his fellow seniors have yet to defeat the Cavs in the regular season. This will be their last chance.

Vice President and Director of Athletics Jim Paquette said, “It is an honor to be selected to host the BIG EAST Women’s Lacrosse Championship in 2013. We are humbled to be chosen and are excited to showcase Baltimore and the Ridley Athletic Complex as a first-rate lacrosse venue worthy of this tournament.”

Associate Director of Athletics and Senior Women’s Administrator Teddi Burns said, “The BIG EAST Championship consistently features some of the top competition in the country, and we’re thrilled to host an elite event of this caliber.”

In 2006, the Greyhounds’ women’s lacrosse program joined the conference. The 2013 event will mark the first BIG EAST postseason event Loyola has hosted.

BIG EAST teams have made 23 appearances in the NCAA tournament and six teams have made it to the final four, in nine years. For three years straight, three teams (Syracuse, Notre Dame and Georgetown) have appeared in the tournament.

The 6,000-seat, state-of-the-art facility that opened in March of 2010, Loyola’s soccer and lacrosse programs have each played one season in Ridley Athletic Complex. At the complex this upcoming campaign for the Greyhounds marks the second season.

Head Coach Jen Adams said, “We are extremely excited about the opportunity to host the 2013 BIG EAST Championships here at Loyola. The Ridley Athletic Complex is an incredible venue to stage the high quality of lacrosse that the Big East Championship brings each year.”

Georgetown hosts the 2011 championships and Syracuse hosts the 2012 championships at the Carrier Dome, in the meantime.

In the media poll, Syracuse earned 293 points and 10 of the 15 first-place votes. Virginia acquired 283 points and four first-place votes. The last remaining first place votes went to North Carolina, which checked in at No. 3 with 255 points. In the USILA rankings, the Cavaliers received eight of the 11 first-place votes and totaled 216 points. The Orange garnered the remaining three first-place nods and accumulated 211 points.

In the media poll, Cornell is ranked No. 7 and No. 8 in the coaches’ poll. With Syracuse, the Big East has three other teams ranked in the media poll (No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 15 Georgetown, and No. 20 Villanova) and two in the coaches’ poll (No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 15 Georgetown).

In the Nike/IL Media Poll, Duke is also tabbed fifth and will face eight teams among the pre-season top 20 and five of the top seven in the USILA poll. From the 2010 NCAA Championship squad, the Blue Devils welcome back six starters and 29 letter winners.
With its first pre-season scrimmage versus Hofstra and Le Moyne, Syracuse begins the 2011 campaign on Saturday, Feb. 5. At home on Feb. 20 against Denver, the Orange opens the regular season.