GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Davenport women's lacrosse team will open up the National Women's Lacrosse League National Championship this week as they are making their second straight appearance in the tournament and third overall. The Panthers will open up the tournament as the number two overall seed and will face the seventh seed, Lawrence Tech, on Thursday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. EDT in Belleville, Ill.
 
Vs. Lawrence Tech
Date: Thursday, April 23, 2015
Opening Draw: 3:30 p.m. EDT
Location: Belleville, Ill. (Lindenwood Stadium)
 
A Quick Look at Lawrence Tech
The Blue Devils are making their first NWLL Championship appearance in program history in just their second season. Lawrence Tech enters the tournament with a 9-6 record on the season after they dropped a close match in the WHAC semifinals against Indiana Tech, where the Warriors came from behind to beat the Blue Devils, 13-12. Alyssa Shaver and Ashley Collins have led the Blue Devil offense this season as Shaver leads the team with 83 points and 71 goals, while Collins, who earned WHAC Newcomer of the Year, has tallied 16 assists to lead the team while recording 80 points on the year.
 
A Quick Look at the Panthers
Davenport enters the tournament as the number two overall seed for the second straight season as they are making their third appearance in the tournament. The Panthers have put together a 14-3 record and won both the WHAC regular season and tournament championships for the second straight season to earn an automatic bid to the NWLL tournament. Leading the team offensively this season has been First Team All-WHAC selections, Taylor Balch and Kaitlyn Lowden. Balch has tallied 92 points this season, while recording 52 assists, and Lowden is the leading goal scorer on the team with 47 on the year, while tallying a total of 62 points this season. In net this season, Samantha Powers has put together a 13-3 record to go along with a .423 save percentage and a 7.96 goals against average.     
 
A Quick Look at the Field
This will be the third meeting between Davenport and Lawrence Tech this season as the two team split during the regular season with each team winning at home. SCAD grabs the number one overall seed in the national tournament as they have won two of the last three national championships and will face No. 8 Reinhardt in the first round of the tournament. First year NWLL program, Georgetown (Ky.), is the third seed in the tournament and will being their national tournament run against sixth-seeded, Tennessee Wesleyan to start the night games on Thursday. In the final match of the day, No. 4 Indiana Tech will take on defending national champion, No. 5 Robert Morris (Ill.) to conclude the first day of the tournament.
 
Women's Lacrosse Contact: David Gerhart | 616-554-5045 | dgerhart@davenport.edu
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