Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, Del. -- In her final season at the helm on the Hens, sixth-year women’s lacrosse head coach Kim Ciarrocca, joined by her three assistant coaches Liz Martin, Jaime Dardine and Reid Watson, are excited to get the 2010 campaign under way.

“I’m not a real nervous person on the sidelines, ever,” said Ciarrocca. “I’ve never been that way, but this [opening] game might be a little nerve-racking for me. I think my last home game may be more so – hoping that it’s the CAA Championships that we’re hosting.”

The Blue Hens, who finished second in the Colonial Athletic Association a year ago, were picked third in the league’s preseason poll announced Jan. 27. This season Delaware, who has traveled to the CAA Tournament for three consecutive years, looks to secure the one finish in which they have fallen just short of, first place. Delaware fell to the preseason favorite Towson University, 8-7, in the 2009 title game to place second. The Hens finished third in 2007 and fourth in 2008 under Ciarrocca.

“I think that being picked third is fair considering we lost our goalie and our whole starting defense with one exception, Jennifer Bradway,” said Ciarrocca. “We lost seven starters and that will hurt a little. I’ve been picked fifth, sixth, seventh, and we’ve always made it.

“Last year we fell a little short of our goals but we know what our goals are. We have three great seniors this year who have done a great job with this team.”

Midfielder Emily Schaknowski, and attackmen Morgan Marino and Courtney Aburn (at right) will lead the Hens not only as seniors, but as the squad’s trio of captains.

Schaknowski, one of the top offensive threats in the CAA, has scored 67 goals and dished out 57 assists in 51 career games. A premiere player at the UD midfield, the Wading River, N.Y. native was named to the CAA Second Team and selected as a CAA All-Tournament Team member after recording 20 goals and 13 assists to lead the Hens for the second-straight year. She also tallied 24 draw controls last season.

“Emily is a super-speed kid in the midfield. We’re going to try to keep her on attack as much as we can and use her on fast break-aways,” said Ciarrocca. “She should have an explosive year. She’s so quick and dominant that it’s hard to stop her. She’s just too fast.”

Named to the CAA Honor Roll and the IWLCA National Academic Team, Marino is a two-year letterwinner who will contribute on the front-line for UD. As will Aburn.

Aburn, a CAA Honor Roll student as well, sits second on Delaware’s career draw control list with 87, and has contributed 70 goals and 27 assists during her tenure. The Jarrettsville, Md. native tallied 15 goals and 11 assists in 2009 and won 24 draw controls.

After losing such a core group of defenders, Ciarrocca pressures her midfield unit with high praise. “Our midfield is our strength right now,” she said. “We have a number of freshmen who will see a good lot of playing time. They’ll bring a lot of speed to our game.”

Freshmen Anglea Biciocchi, Morgan Leonard, and Brittany Griel should expect minutes.

According to Ciarrocca, Biciocchi will be one of the first subs off the bench, if not starting some games, while Leonard, a center, will also contribute some time.

“Griel, a middie, she can go both ways,” said the sixth-year head coach. “She’ll start some games also and come right off the bench for us to add some depth.”
Sophomores Steph Allen, Rachel Molina and Quinn Daly return for the Hens, as do juniors Lindsey Coon, Ali Libertini, Holly Burman and Julianna Jeffers as the veterans of the midfield.

Allen, who contributed 22 goals last season, is healthy and will make an impression on Delaware’s offense. “Steph was a walk-on last year and turned out to be one of our highest scorers, she’ll get some playing time,” highlighted Ciarrocca.

Molina and Daly saw spotted playing time in 2009. “Rachel is a middie-defender,” said Ciarrocca. She’s going to see a lot of time this year, and Quinn will also see significantly more action.”

“Lindsay is returning from an injury and will start for us. She’s our center,” stated Ciarrocca. “And we’ll be looking for big things out of Ali, in many ways she’s going to run the offense for us.”

Burman and Jeffers each contributed nine goals in the 2009 season, while playing in a combined 31 games. Burman, who made 16 starts, tallied 12 points, 22 ground balls, 10 caused turnovers and won 18 draw controls last year.

Kayla McDonough, a transfer from Richmond University, looks to make an immediate impact on the UD midfield. “Kayla is a phenomenal defender, she’s really going to help us and is going to fit in very well as a starter for us.”

Despite having switched around the game plan to accommodate a young defense, Ciarrocca will stick to the same motto. “We’re going to push the ball on attack and try to make some things happen,” she said. “On defense we’re going to come out and pressure the ball a little more. Unlike my defense last year that was a great settled defense, this team has a little bit more speed. I feel like this group of defenders has a lot of speed and they’re working very well together.”

After earning a starting spot in the fourth game last year, Bradway is the only returning starter on defense and has been selected as a defensive captain for game-day.

“She’ll help out tremendously and will run the defense back there for me,” praised Ciarrocca.

Following the graduation of four-year starter, Jessica Cerveny, at the goalkeeper position, junior Makenzie Worthington, will fill her shoes.

“Makenzie has paid her dues,” said Ciarrocca. “She sat for two years and didn’t see much playing time because Jess had a remarkable career for us. She’s looking forward to the challenge, and she’s ready. There’s no doubt, she’s ready.”

A crew of forwards will help the efforts of Schaknowski. A redshirt junior, Nicole Flego, is returning from a slew of injuries but looks to contribute for the Blue and Gold.

“We’ve been out with Nicole for a year or two now. Each year I hope she comes back because she was a 30-30 kid her freshman year and she has great potential.”

Sophomores Abby Fashouer and Blair King, and junior Corinne Drost will also serve as scoring threats.

“Abby and Blair will see some playing time on attack. Abby has a nice lefty with a phenomenal shot,” stated Ciarrocca. “And Blair has one of the best and quickest shots on the team.”

A part-time starter in 2009, Drost was the Hens’ sixth-highest scorer a year ago. Drost recorded 16 points on 12 goals and four assists, while starting 10 of 18 games in which she played.

Confident in her upperclassmen and newcomers, Ciarrocca eagerly awaits game-day and is looking forward to the challenging season ahead.

“We have 32 kids and feel we have 20 field players who are going to contribute every game – it’s a nice substitution pattern to have.

“This team is one of the closest team’s I’ve had and they work hard every day and they deserve to win some games,” concluded Ciarrocca. We’re anxious and I’m excited being that it’s my last season here. Of course I want to go out on top, I’d like to win the CAAs and we’re doing everything we possibly can to make that happen.”

Delaware hosts Lehigh on Feb. 26 to open the season. It marks the first meeting between the squads since the Mountain Hawks defeated the Blue Hens, 24-7, during the 1996 campaign. The head-to-head between UD and Lehigh dates back to the 1981 season. Delaware leads the series 22-6.

The blue Hens will also face Saint Joseph’s (Pa.), Rutgers, Loyola (Md.), Penn State, Temple, UMBC, Oregon and Vanderbilt in non-league action prior to tipping-off CAA play on April 3 at defending champion, Towson.