By Byron Mitchell '14
WINCHESTER, Va. - In a season filled with significant home games, tonight's ODAC women's lacrosse match-up between Shenandoah and Washington and Lee promises to add to that list.
Shenandoah (7-2, 4-0 ODAC) plays host to pre-season favorite and defending champion W&L (5-6, 5-1) in a contest that will go a long way to determining the 2013 regular season champion.
The Generals, after losing in triple overtime to Roanoke two weeks ago, find themselves ½ game back of co-league leaders SU and Guilford.
With only the top two teams in the league earning a first-round bye, a win tonight puts the victor in the driver's seat for one of those two passes into the tournament semi-finals.
Juniors Meade Brewster (19 goals) and Margaret Klein (18 goals) lead W&L offensively this season and helped the Generals to a 12-10 overtime victory over Lynchburg College Saturday to solidify its hold on second place.
While Wednesday's ODAC competition has serious implications, SU head coach Lindsey Lutz is focused on that fact that this contest is no different than any of their other ODAC competitions.
"It is just as important as every conference game we play," Lutz said. If our goal is to win the conference, every game is a must win."
The Hornets had their five-game winning streak snapped last week at the hands of McDaniel College, who led throughout in a 19-9 victory over the hosts.
It didn't take long for Shenandoah to bounce back, as Lutz' club defeated Hollins University 22-2 Saturday afternoon to improve to 4-0 in the ODAC.
Lutz has her team focused on playing their game, just as they have done all season, and not worrying about the conference standings. Winning this grudge match will take a strong effort from the entire team.
"We just need to focus on playing our game, running our system," Lutz said. "We need to play as a team all over the field, and we can't rely on a couple of players to win the game for us—it has to be a team effort."
Junior Samantha Sisson, the team's leading scorer, has heard the message her coach is preaching.
"We are just going to try to play our game," Sisson said. "We have been working in the basics for our attack and trying to stay composed and poised."
"Our defense has been awesome lately, so hopefully we will continue to keep our communication."
In addition to Sisson, Lutz will look to fellow midfielder Liz Bereit on the offensive end and a strong defensive showing out of junior goalkeeper Ashley Cross.
Cross is third in the conference in goals scored against her, 77.
Sisson headlines the squad in goals, 34; assists, 13, and points, 47, this season.
Bereit backs her up with 23 goals and a co-team-high 13 assists for 36 points.
"Possession and control will be key," Sisson said. "We have to be smart all over the field, on defense, our transition and especially on attack."
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