Lady laxers have depth at keeper position

Penn State women's lacrosse coach Julie Williams has two weapons to choose from at goalkeeper this season.

Senior Lauren Retzlaff, the starting goalkeeper for the past two seasons, has been getting the majority of the starts this season as well. However, freshman Megan Ames is also getting scattered starts and significant playing time.

After starting the last two games, including an impressive showing Sunday against Old Dominion, Retzlaff presently has a leg up on Ames.

"I think right now, she's more of a presence in there," Williams said.

Although Retzlaff is improving, both she and Williams agree there is still room for improvement. Williams said the senior needs to work on keeping her position, "in the heat of the moment" and reacting more instead of thinking.

"There's always room for improvement, so I have to work on that," Retzlaff said after her team's win over the Monarchs.

In the case of Ames, Williams insisted she hasn't forgotten about her. She said the freshman should be the team's goalkeeper of the future, but this season she wants her to gain experience and improve her game outside the cage.

Ames said she isn't frustrated by the situation at all. She said she has learned a lot from her more experienced counterpart, and Retzlaff's presence has helped alleviate some of the pressures of starting as a freshman.

"It's good to have her around so we can both work together," Ames said.

This week's IWLCA Div. I poll saw some significant shuffling, although only previous No. 15 Old Dominion was booted from the Top 15.

No. 1 North Carolina (8-0) tightened its grip on the top spot with wins against No. 5 Virginia and Virginia Tech last week. The Tar Heels captured all but one of the first-place votes.

Temple's upset loss to James Madison allowed Princeton (5-0) to move into the No. 2 slot. The Tigers grabbed the other first-place vote, as they beat No. 11 Penn State and Columbia last week. Meanwhile, Temple's loss dropped it to No. 7.

Other notable movers were Duke (7-1), which jumped from No. 5 to No. 3, leapfrogging No. 4 Maryland (5-2). No. 5 Virginia and No. 6 Loyola (Md.) both moved up one spot, while No. 8 James Madison and No. 9 Georgetown both advanced two spots.

As she has with Retzlaff and Ames, Williams has switched her starting lineup for nearly every game.

In addition to moving senior team captain Sarah Long from offensive midfielder to defensive midfielder, Williams said she also likes to use junior midfielder Megan Martin, sophomore defender Tori Marabella and freshman attack Brooke Bailey off the bench and as occasional starters.

"Ultimately I want to shuffle it around because it makes it harder for the other team and I don't think we are any worse off when we do shuffle it," Williams said.

Against Old Dominion, juniors Emily Mechem and Jordan Brodsky didn't start. While Williams said neither played well in the team's previous game, a loss to Princeton, she said the switch was just an attempt to try something new.