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Queen's University |
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2002 Season News & Awards
2001 Season News & Awards
2000 Season News & Awards
1999 Season News & Awards Outstanding Rookie
Outstanding Defensive
Player Most Sportsmanlike
Player 2000 OUA League Awards - Top Scorer Spirit Award
OUA All-Star
1999 OUA League Awards - Most Valuable Player
Outstanding Graduating
Player Outstanding Rookie
Outstanding Defensive
Player OUA East Division
All-stars Queen's
Journal Article The reigning OUA women's lacrosse champions were back on the pitch again, opening their title defense at home by posting two very convincing wins this weekend over the York Yeowomen and the McGill Martlets. The Gaels came out strong Sunday morning in their season opener, and defeated the Yeowomen 17-6. This was an improvement over last year, when the squad lost their opening game. "All pistons were firing for this game," said head coach Cheryl MacNeill. The top scorers were Stephanie Schneider with six goals, and Darcie Spearing with five. The defense and offense worked together and the ball movement and forechecking was superb. This game showed that the team will be a more balanced team than last year. "This will be a team that will continue to dominate," said MacNeill. In Sunday's afternoon game against the Martlets, the Gaels started slow but still posted a dominating 16-8 victory. McGill was no match for the confident Gaels as they controlled the rebounds throughout the second half. "We picked up speed and dominated the second half," said MacNeill. "We tightened up defensively, focusing on one-on-one defense... they really took it up a notch." The team play improved over the course of the game as their passing became pinpoint accurate. Top scorers of the game were Spearing, with seven goals, and Schneider with five. Amanda Redick, new to the team this year, also had a strong showing. In general, MacNeill is pleased with the way her players have stepped up to fill the void of starters lost to graduation, particularly Schneider at forward, defense Leah Hoover and goaltender Janet Lee. In addition, she is delighted with the ball control, passing and fore-checking of her charges. Although still early, MacNeill has been pleasantly surprised by the work of rookie Redick. "She is going to be a player to watch," she said. "She's going to be phenomenal." The Gaels continue their drive for a third straight OUA championship next weekend in Montreal, where they will be looking to conquer the Martlets again, as well as Toronto's Varsity Blues. Stephanie Schneider - Athlete Of The Week The Golden Gaels Women's lacrosse team has had an undeniably solid start to their season winning their first two league games against the York Yeomen 17-6 and the McGill Martlets 16-8. Stephanie Schneider, one of the team's attackers, made a hefty contribution of ten goals in those two league games, leading her team to an impressive 2-0 start this season and earning her the honour of Queen's Journal Female Athlete of the Week. When asked about her performance over the weekend Schneider simply answered "I was pumped up for the game and I wanted to come out hard and give it my all." And that she did, adding to the six goals she scored in the early bird tournament against U of T, Brock and McMaster. "Stephanie is an unassuming player," said Coach Cheryl MacNeill. "You wouldn't expect her to be a scorer with her quiet presence on the field." With hard work and dedication, Schneider hopes to see her team win a third OUA championship this season, which the Gaels will host November 4. Schneider, a resident of Virginia, attended Fairfax high school and has been playing lacrosse for eight years. She has won numerous team and individual awards, including MVP in both her junior and senior years at Fairfax and also winning the OUA championship two years running here at Queens. Schneider, a Spanish major, is no stranger to competitive athletics, as she also played field hockey before giving it up to take on lacrosse full time. Coach MacNeill couldn't be happier to have her. "Stephanie is so easy going, and very easy to coach. She works hard," MacNeill said. As for Schneider's goal this season? "To let myself know that I did my best and could contribute to the team." With Schneider's success so far this season, her goal doesn't seem so far-fetched. The Gaels lacrosse team travels to Montreal this weekend to play U of T, their toughest competition this year, and to have a rematch with McGill. You can see Stephanie in action here for the OUA championships November 4. Kingston Whig Standard Article Gaels in Search of
Third-Straight Title Two-time defending titleholder Queen's Golden Gaels go after a third straight women's lacrosse crown at this weekend's Ontario University Athletics championship tournament in Kingston. Though the Gaels (8-3) are not favoured to three-peat - that label falls upon the unbeaten, untied Toronto Blues (11-0) - counting them out might be folly, suggested sophomore head coach Cheryl MacNeill. "I think experience will be a factor," noted the former national team goalkeeper. "We have 11 of 20 players back from last year's team including two of that team's top-three scorers." Those would be attack players Darcie Spearing and Stephanie Schneider. Predictably, the pair paced the Tricolour in scoring this season, combining for a startling 95 points, a little more than half the team total. "Our biggest strength by far is team balance," the coach added. "We have excellent midfield balance and a strong defensive corps" led by Heather Goodin, selected the Gaels top defender last year, and Leah Hoover, a transfer from McMaster, where she too earned the top-defender award. Goalkeeping, with Queen's OUA all-star Barb Phibbs graduated, was a legitimate question mark at the start of the campaign. But the splendid play of rookie Sarah Hughes - "new to the position, new to the sport" - has bolstered an already sturdy defence. "With [Phibbs] gone, there was tremendous pressure on Sarah to carry on, because that position was so crucial in us winning last year," said MacNeill. "But she's more than met the challenge. She's certainly has all the tools." The eight-team tournament - Queen's, Toronto, McGill, York, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Guelph, Brock and Western - kicks off with this Friday's Queen's/Brock match, 1 p.m. at the west campus field, adjacent Richardson Stadium. The final is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday, with MacNeill forecasting a Queen's/Toronto match. "If we play up to our potential, we should meet Toronto in the final and beat them if, like I say, we play the way we're capable of playing." OUA Gatorade Female Athlete of the Week – Anne Benedetti The Gatorade Female Athlete of the Week is Anne Benedetti, a member of the Queens Golden Gaels Lacrosse team. Anne led the Gaels to their second consecutive OUA championship, was named a conference all-star and was named top graduating player. The Bachelor of Education student from Cambridge scored 2 goals and assisted on another as Queens defeated the Guelph Gryphons in the OUA final. Queen's
Journal Stephanie Schneider is a terrific lacrosse player and she is also the Queen’s Journal Female Athlete of the Week. The third-year Spanish major is not new to varsity sports. She played field hockey in her first year at Queen’s before switching to lacrosse last year. She turned out to be one of their star players. Now in her second year of lacrosse, Schneider has demonstrated her superb athletic abilities. Excelling in an attacking position, third home, she has frequently been in prime position to score. This past weekend she tallied eight times in a pair of Queen’s triumphs, three times against Guelph and five against Western. Schneider has been playing lacrosse for seven years; she played on her high school team since her freshman year and has been hooked ever since. In the United States, lacrosse is a very popular sport. In her hometown of Clifton, Virginia, “lacrosse is huge sport, there is a lot more opportunity to play,” said Schneider. To the team Schneider brings a positive attitude. “I try to do my best every time I go out,” she said. Referring to her on-field play, she added, “I always look for an open player if I don’t have a shot. I will go down the field if I think we need a goal.” For the first time in several years, the women’s lacrosse team has had a coach. In Schneider’s eyes, this has made a tremendous difference to the skill level of the team. “We have only been working on defense and this work has really shown in our game.” Not only does the lacrosse team bring fitness into her life it also brings fulfillment. “I really enjoy working with the girls on the team. We work hard and have fun at the same time,” said Schneider. As defending OUA champions, the Gaels have much to live up to. The team seems to be living up to their expectations, as they are 3-1 on the season. Gaels Win Ontario Women's Lacrosse Crown The Guelph Gryphons found out the hard way, as did the Brock Badgers and McMaster Marauders this weekend - double-teaming an opposing Queen's Golden Gaels player can be costly. The Gaels, sporting three Ontario University Athletics East Division all-stars in Darcie Spearing, Heather Goodin and Anne Benedetti, watched the supporting cast go to work and help the club win a second consecutive OUA crown this weekend. Queen's defeated Guelph 9-7 in the championship game at the University of Toronto's Erindale Campus. Andrea Millard notched three goals for the winners, who never trailed in the game and led by three at one point. Vicki Gruneberg and Benedetti added two goals apiece, while Stephanie Schneider and Kim Smith added singles. "The key to the whole weekend," said fourth-year centre Benedetti, a Team Ontario player, " was operating as a team. If one person was shut down, somebody else picked up the slack. It was never just one or two players. "Teams were double-teaming certain players, but [with that type defence] you can't cover all of us. We'd get the ball to the open person and that person always seemed to come through." Queen's, backed by stellar play from goaltender Barb Phibbs, beat Brock by an identical 9-7 count in a semifinal. In the opening quarter-final contest, the Gaels hammered McMaster 11-3 behind four-goal performances by Schneider and Spearing. Benedetti earned most valuable player and top graduating player awards, while Goodin was voted outstanding defender and top rookie. Lacrosse - Cool Sport of The Week Anne Benedetti Last weekend the Queen's University Lacrosse Team successfully defended our OUA title. Lacrosse is doing extremely well at the University level in Ontario and has just completed its second official season as a sanctioned OUA sport.
For general information on women's lacrosse in Canada you can check out the Canadian Women's Lacrosse site at http://www.durham.net/~sparky9/index~1.html. It is packed with great information and lots of links. There is a link on that site that will lead you to
our Queen's University Lacrosse site which has cool info about our amazing
season and cool award winners. Ontario Women's Lacrosse In the summers, I am a member of the Ontario Senior Women's Lacrosse team and also play for the Proboss Canadian All-Star team. I play center for Queen's and Proboss, and midfield or center for Ontario. The Proboss team is put together by Troyhann Santos and tour to Vail Colorado for the Vail shoot out (a totally wicked international tournament). Ontario Women's International Tournament As for playing in the Ontario International Tournament: It was an amazing experience to be able to play such high level field lacrosse in Canada. Usually we have to travel to the states in order to play in such a high level tournament. The organisation was exceptional and it was an amazing experience to be part of a tournament that displayed the best of field lacrosse at every age level. I was very happy to be a part of such an amazing team and program. As for the Under 19's, I can't say enough about the quality of the program that Joanne Stanga has created at the National level. In addition, the under 19 and under 15 programs which were also created by Joanne are flourishing and creating a totally new and exciting place for young women to be introduced to the national summer sport. At the over 19 level the coach has just been named for the Senior national team and things should be getting underway soon for the World Cup in 2001 in England. Anne Benedetti is at Queens University where she was the Queen's Journal Athlete of the Year in 1998. Also in 1998, she was an OUA Academic All-star among numerous other awards. For more information see the full article at http://www.caaws.ca/girlsatplay/people/lacrosse.htm. Where are they
Now? - Darcie Spearing picked up a crosse for the first time in 1994 and gave lacrosse a shot. It was only the second season for the Regina Legends jr. woman’s lacrosse team. Darcie played, trained and coached with the Legends from 1994 to 1998 and established the necessary skills and knowledge of the women’s field game. Improving on every aspect of the game, Darcie became a major threat on the field and was a regular MVP recipient each year in Saskatchewan. She was a member of the Regina Legends gold medal winning team at Provincials from 1996-1998, and the silver medal Jr. Woman’s Provincial team in 1996. Darcie was also a Russell Slobodian (Athlete of the Year) Award winner in 1997 for best exemplifying her spirit of the game of lacrosse. The alumnus of women’s lacrosse in Saskatchewan has taken her talent and skills to a new level over past few years. Darcie is in her third-year of life science at Queen’s University on an academic scholarship. She has played three seasons with the Queen’s Woman’s Lacrosse Team. The small town girl from Pense, Sask. has experienced great success to this point at Queen’s and has seen women’s lacrosse from a new perspective. In her first year, the women’s lacrosse program was considered a "competitive team" and received no funding from the University and was not affiliated with the Ontario University Athletics (OUA). The team finished second in the league, and Darcie was chosen as Rookie of the Year. In her second season, the women’s team was given probationary varsity status. Darcie took on the roll as player/coach and proved her understanding of the game. In a dynasty season, Queen’s took the first OUA woman’s lacrosse championship. Darcie was named OUA All-Star, OUA Athlete of the Week, and OUA Academic All-Star. Queen’s defended their title on November 5-7, 1999 at the Championships at University of Toronto. Queen’s defeated McMaster and Brock in the quarter and semi finals. They then over powered Guelph in the championship game to repeat as champs. Darcie was for a second time awarded OUA All-Star, and OUA Academic All-Star. Congratulations Darcie. From the Saskatchewan Lacrosse Association and all members, we are very proud of you! Darcie is excited about returning to Saskatchewan this summer and would like to help promote the women’s field program here by coaching a woman’s team in Regina again if possible. She will be returning to Queen’s in September of 2000 for her fourth year of education and to defend the Championship title. Submitted by Chad Fenrick |
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