2007 Season Preview
CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE COACHES PRE-SEASON POLL
The Swarthmore women's lacrosse team has good reason to be excited for the 2007 season, following the best performance in program history during the 2006 campaign.
The Garnet set a school record for wins in a season with 14 and qualified for the Centennial Conference playoffs for the first time. The 2007 team looks get off to a fast start, echoing the 8-0 start last year, which included winning the championship trophy at the 2006 Seven Sisters' Tournament held right here at Swarthmore. The loss of a strong senior class will be the first obstacle for the Garnet women to overcome, yet head Karen Borbee's squad returns several established veterans in the midfield as well as a collection youthful impact players on defense.
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| Two-time All-Centennial selection Lindsay Roth '07 leads the Swarthmore offensive attack. |
Senior captain and midfielder Lindsay Roth returns to lead a Swarthmore attack that tallied 213 goals in 2006, fifth-best in the Conference. Roth, a two-time All-Centennial performer, scored 30 or more goals in three consecutive seasons. At the end of the 2006 season, Roth became the 12th player in the program's history to reach the 100-goal milestone while making second-team All-Centennial. Roth was second on the team with 45 ground balls and third in points (38) and goals (31). She also scored 17 goals in Centennial action—tops on the team.
Swarthmore's X-factor is the hustle and grit of junior midfielder Megan Sanborn, the team's leader in draw controls (54), assists (11) and caused turnovers (33) in 2006. Sanborn was named Most Valuable Player of the 15th annual Seven Sisters Lacrosse Championship after scoring a goal and causing five turnovers in 11-8 Garnet championship game win over Wellesley (Ma.) on March 19. She was subsequently named Centennial Conference Player of the Week after tallying five goals, nine draws, and seven caused turnovers in three games. Look for the Garnet good fortunes to begin with Sanborn holding the ball in her pocket.
The Garnet got a career-best performance from senior captain Catherine Crawford in 2006. The speedy midfielder tied for the team-lead with 35 goals (double her previous career-high), finishing 11th in the Centennial with 1.94 scores per game. Her game-winning goal at McDaniel on March 25 completed 16-15 comeback win for Swarthmore. Crawford netted four goals in two separate games, led the team with eight free-position scores, and was tied for third with seven assists—she will be looked to provide more of the same offensive fireworks in 2007. Fellow captain Athena Samaras '07 was also one of eight Garnet women to score at least 10 goals, registering a career-high 17 scores while making 18 starts in the midfield.
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| Midfielder Anna de Regt '09 tied for the team-lead with 35 goals in 2006. |
Swarthmore freshman Anna de Regt was viable spark of the bench in 2006, leading the squad in points despite starting only four games. Her 35 goals tied Crawford for the team lead and her eight assists were good for second-best. De Regt, a midfielder, is very accurate with the ball, led the 2006 team in shot percentage (.455) while putting almost 64% of her shots on net. Her goals came in bunches, scoring five goals on three different occasions—at Widener on March 30, vs. Bryn Mawr on April 11 and against Rosemont on April 25.
The Swarthmore defense ranked fourth in goals-against average in 2006 and took quite a hit from graduation, losing two seniors including All-Region and three-time All-Centennial defender Cara Tigue and fellow captain Chole Lewis (team-high with 56 ground balls in 2006). The 2007 Garnet defense looks to sophomore Melissa Grigsby to take Tigue's place as the number-one lockdown defender and senior captain Paige Gentry (third on team with 45 ground balls) to provide a consistent force in front of junior goalie Susannah Blair. Blair finished fourth in the Centennial with a 9.14 goals-against average while posting one of only two shutouts in the Conference—a 14-0 victory over Elms in the opening round of the Seven Sisters Championship on March 18.
The 2007 season begins at Rosemont at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 3. The first Swarthmore home game will be on March 22 when defending Centennial champion and pre-season #2-rankedt Gettysburg visits Clothier Field for a 5:00 p.m. contest.