Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/23/10
From Press Releases
La Salle University will host first-year Florida today at 12:30 at Temple University in a homecoming at Geasey Field for Gators coach Amanda O’Leary, a former Spring-Ford High and Temple great.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at La Salle, but the recent snowfall in the Philadelphia area have left the field still unplayable. The game time had to be changed from 3:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. to accommodate the new location.
La Salle has a 0-1 record after dropping a 12-11 decision at Navy in its opener last weekend. The Explorers’ Stefany McKee scored three goals while Melanie Sarcinello (Marple Newtown) had one goal and three assists.
La Salle took all three Atlantic 10 Conference awards for the week. Senior McKee was honored as A-10 Player of the Week, sophomore Sara Ciaverelli (North Penn) was named Defensive Player of the Week, while freshman Sarcinello was tabbed the conference’s Rookie of the Week.
Florida enters the matchup with a 1-0 record after beating Jacksonville 16-6 in the program’s opener Saturday. The Gainesville community made the university’s newest team feel right at home, with a crowd of 2,114 coming out to support the team in its inaugural game.
The Gators were led by freshman attacker Ashley Bruns, who had four goals and four assists against the Dolphins. Sopho
more Rachael Zimmerman controlled the midfield with 10 ground ball pickups, four caused turnovers and four draw controls.
During her playing career, O’Leary (maiden name: Moore) was a four-year starter for Temple’s lacrosse and field hockey teams. A two-time All-American in both sports, O’Leary led the Owl’s lacrosse team to a 19-0 record and the national championship in 1988. O’Leary was the Midfielder of the Year selection for the NCAA All-Tournament teams in 1987 and 1988 as well as the NCAA Most Valuable Player in 1988. Lacrosse Magazine also selected her as its 1988 Player of the Year.
In 2005, O’Leary was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. She also became a member of the Temple Owls’ Hall of Fame in the fall of 2004. O’Leary was named to the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse 25th Anniversary Team in the fall of 2006.
O’Leary came to UF from Yale, where she led the Bulldogs for 14 seasons. Her career record of 162-65 (.714) ranks her No. 5 among active Division I coaches for career winning percentage. She is also No. 7 among the active coaches’ with her 162 wins. Yale set the school record for season wins with 14 in O’Leary’s second year (1995) and has twice equaled that mark (1999 and 2003). She took Yale to two of its three NCAA Championship appearances, as the Bulldogs reached the 2003 quarterfinal round and the 2007 opening round.
