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Not only has Lindsay Schabert solidified the Yellow Jackets' defense, her practice habits have improved the team's offense. |
LONG STICKS OR SHORT, it
Shaking off a midseason knee injury, the 20-year-old art history major from Stafford County earned Old Dominion Athletic Conference all-tournament team honors for the second year in a row this spring.
"I think Lindsay came back stronger after her injury," Yellow Jackets coach Dan Kanach. "Her first game back was against Salisbury. They shoot and score a lot of goals and were the No. 1 ranked team in the country. Most goalies wouldn't want to go through that [situation]."
Schabert, who was sidelined for three games, indicated the meniscus and cartilage damage to her left knee stemmed from "wear-and-tear" and was to undergo corrective surgery this summer. She should be ready to resume play when fall practice starts in mid-September.
Attending Stafford High School, Schabert competed in gymnastics and was a member of the Indians' lacrosse team for all four years.
She got hooked on the sport by watching her brother Ben play--first for the Indians and then for Randolph-Macon.
Schabert tried out for the Falcons of the Fredericksburg Area Lacrosse League as a seventh-grader and immediately told her coaches of her desire to play goal.
The biggest adjustment from high school and college was getting use to the different sticks used by attackers. While the boys sticks are longer and the speed of the ball tends to be higher, women's sticks are shorter, resulting in a faster release and a quicker arrival time for shots taken near the goal area.
With the team shrinking in size (from 20 to 14) and with three first-time players on the defense, Schabert saw her saves-vs.-goals-allowed percentage drop from 65 her freshman year to 52 this season.
The Jackets still held their own, though, finishing 9-8 overall and 6-2 in the ODAC. A lot of the credit belongs to Schabert and the play of the defenders, who manage to offset their overall inexperience through athletic skills developed in other sports.
Besides having a knack for calculating shot angles and where opposing players are most likely to take shots, Schabert has proved beneficial to the play of the Jackets' offensive team as well.
"In practice, Lindsay frustrates the offensive player and makes [them] take better shots," Kanach concluded.
Sophomores spark FrostburgSophomores Allen Peake (Stafford) and Andrew Speights (Brooke Point) won berths on the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region all-tournament team after leading the seventh-seeded baseball team to a 2-2 record--the Polar Bears' first-ever victories in the NCAA playoffs.
Peake was 4-for-13 with four RBIs, three runs scored and a solo home run, and was a steady performer at first base, recording 39 putouts. Speights went 7-for-15 with three runs scored and three RBIs.
Meanwhile, teammate Brett Mitchell (Stafford) delivered a game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth as Frostburg State University topped Gwynedd-Mercy, 3-2, in tournament play.
Washington wins top awardLongwood University's Ryan Washington (Liberty) was selected player of the year on this season's Division I All-Independent softball team.
The sophomore shortstop was one of five Lancer players recognized and she led the team in batting average (.426), runs scored (40), home runs (11), RBIs (37), slugging percentage (.709) and stolen bases (23).
JMU archers clean upJames Madison University dominated the compound portion of the U.S. Intercollegiate Archery Championship at UCLA last weekend, producing two individual crowns, sweeping the women's, men's and mixed titles and in the process setting a new team women's record (226 score out of a possible 240).
Sophomore Amy McAleese (Brooke Point) was a member of the four-woman Dukes team that placed third in the recurve competition.
To reach KURT NICOLL:
Email: knicoll@freelancestar.com
