EMAIL THIS PAGE

March 1, 2004

Junior attacker Rebecca Copeland is the leading returning scorer for the 2004 Eagles, after accumulating 43 goals and seven assists in 2003.

WASHINGTON — The Patriot League’s coaches and sports information directors have picked the 2004 American University women’s lacrosse team to repeat as league champions, league officials announced Saturday.

American received nine of 14 first-place votes to finish with 67 points. Colgate was tabbed second, with 57 points and three first-place votes, while Bucknell received one first-place vote and garnered 55 points. Lafayette was selected as the fourth-place team, with 38 points and one first-place vote, and Lehigh (33 points), Holy Cross (23 points) and Villanova (21 points) were picked to finish in fifth through seventh places, respectively. Coaches and SIDs were not allowed to vote for their own team.

The 2004 Eagles are coming off the best season in school history, in which they finished with a school-record 11 wins, won the Patriot League and earned the school’s first-ever berth into the NCAA Tournament. AU returns second-team All-League goaltender Kathleen Finnegan (Arnold, Md./St. Mary’s) and nine of its top 13 scorers from last season. Junior Rebecca Copeland (Webster, N.Y./Webster), who was the team’s second-leading scorer with 43 goals and seven assists, and senior Katy Zaweski (Huntington, N.Y./Harborfields), who tallied 32 goals and 13 assists, will help on the offensive side of the field. Senior defender Nicole McCarthy (Flourtown, Pa./Springtown), who scored 20 goals and added 12 assists last season, will shore up the defense.

American opens up its season tomorrow, March 2, when the Eagles host Towson University beginning at 3 p.m.