The College at Brockport's women's lacrosse team earned its second straight trip to the NCAA Division III tournament, compiling a 10-7 record overall and an impressive 6-2 mark in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC).
The 2011 Golden Eagles were ranked nationally on several occasions, and Brockport secured an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament, where the Golden Eagles put a scare into nationally-ranked Hamilton College. Brockport led 6-5 late in the first half before falling 14-7 to the No. 3 Continentals in a first-round NCAA game.
Three members of the Golden Eagles earned spots on the year-ending 2011 USA College Lacrosse Women's Division III All-American squad.
Sophomore attack
Sarah Brown (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee) was named first-team All-American while junior
Karen Bianchi (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee) and senior
Amanda Massmann (Bohemia, NY/Connetquot) each garnered second-team All-American honors.
Brown, the quarterback of the Golden Eagles, scored a team-high 59 points on a team-leading 34 goals with 25 assists, the second-highest total on Brockport. Brown started all 17 games for the Green and Gold with 26 groundballs, fourth-most on the team. Twice in 2011, Brown scored seven points in a game: a four-goal, three-assist effort during a 19-11 win over New Paltz on April 9, and also during a two-goal, five-assist performance during a 17-3 romp over Oswego on April 16. Over Brockport's first 11 games, Brown scored 28 goals and handed out 20 assists. She led Brockport with five game-winning goals, and her six free-position goals were second-most on the team.
Bianchi, a do-it-all midfielder for the Golden Eagles, was one of seven Brockport players to record 20-plus points this year. In starting all 17 games, Bianchi scored 24 goals, tied for fourth-most on the team, and had two assists, good for 26 points. She led the Green and Gold with 36 draw control wins and 22 caused turnovers, and her 41 groundballs were the second-most on the team.
Massmann, a member of a staunch Brockport defense that allowed only 9.8 goals per game, started all 17 games for the Golden Eagles. The fourth-year member of the varsity scored two goals with an assist while scooping up 39 groundballs, third-highest this year. Her 17 caused turnovers were also third-most on Brockport.
Brown, Bianchi and Massmann each earned first-team All-SUNYAC honors while Bianchi, Massmann and sophomore
Kaila Maguire (Potsdam, NY/Potsdam) each earned SUNYAC All-Tournament honors
Brockport fell to Cortland in Saturday's SUNYAC championship game, the fourth time in the last five years that the Green and Gold played for a SUNYAC title. The Golden Eagles advanced into the championship game after avenging a loss to Buffalo State in the SUNYAC semifinals Friday. Brockport had dropped an 18-2 regular-season decision to the Bengals but responded with a 16-6 win in the semifinal matchup.
Brockport featured seven players with 20-plus points, including: Brown, Bianchi, junior
Dayna Piraino (Syracuse, NY/Henninger) with 26 goals and 26 assists for 52 points, second-most on the team; freshman
Alyssa Scordo (Watertown, NY/South Jefferson), who scored 24 goals with eight assists for 32 points; Maguire, who had 27 goals and four assists for 31 points; sophomore
Stephanie Toomey (East Rochester, NY/East Rochester), who had 24 goals with two assists for 26 points; and junior
Carly Motondo (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee), who had 18 goals and four assists for 22 points.
Maguire led Brockport with 43 groundballs, followed closely by Bianchi (41) and Massmann (39). Bianchi won a team-high 32 draw controls, followed by junior
Lindsay John (Angola, NY/Angola) with 32 and Maguire with 29.
Piraino scored five goals with eight assists during the week ending April 17 to earn a spot on the Synapse Sports (formerly known as womenslacrosse.com) Weekly Division III Honor Roll.
Defensively, Brockport limits opponents to less than 10 goals per game with seniors Massmann,
Melissa Rosintoski (Black River, NY/Carthage) and
Bridget Mulvena (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle). Fellow senior
Jamie Kaminsky (Oakdale, NY/Sayville) played every minute in goal with a 9.91 goals against average, a .408 save percentage and four games with double-digit save totals.
Kaminsky was named SUNYAC Goalie of the Week once and capped her stellar Brockport career with 115 saves in 2011, bringing her four-year total to a school-record mark of 558 saves. Kaminsky broke
Carrie Large's old mark of 511, set from 1996-99.
After a tough start on its spring training trip to Florida, the Golden Eagles bounced back, winning eight of nine games to clinch a spot in the SUNYAC postseason tournament. Motondo scored a career-high five goals during a 14-13 overtime win over Fredonia on April 19 to complete a five-game win streak.
