Over the past two seasons, the Regis Rangers have achieved significant program milestones. In 2017, they won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) tournament championship and claimed their first NCAA tournament berth. Last season, they returned to the postseason and captured their first two NCAA victories while advancing to the national semifinals for the first time.
The Rangers are once again chasing new milestones in 2019.
For starters, they have already established a new standard for the best start in team history, and have also earned the program’s highest-ever ranking. No. 3 Regis carries an 11-0 record into Friday’s game at Oklahoma Baptist. The looming showdown with No. 2 Lindenwood is two days later.
“We played some high-level competition to start this season and those wins helped build our confidence,” said coach Sarah Kellner, referring to victories in March over ranked opponents Tampa, Grand Valley State, and NYIT.
While not overlooking Friday’s game with OBU, Sunday’s battle against the Lions will determine the team to beat for the 2019 RMAC title.
“It’s always an amazing game against Lindenwood and one that we circle on the calendar pretty early on,” Kellner said. “It’s a really good rivalry.”
Averaging 17.2 goals per game, Regis ranks sixth in the nation in scoring, with Sarah Myres serving as the offensive catalyst. The senior leads the nation in both goals (5.45 per game) and total points (7.09/game). Myres matched her career-high with eight goals in last week’s 23-10 drubbing of No. 14 Colorado Mesa.
“There are not a lot of ups and downs with Sarah, she plays at a consistently high level all the time,” Kellner said. “She is usually the best athlete on the field.”
The development of some younger players this season has also provided the Rangers with quality depth as they head down the stretch.
“We are pretty multi-faceted on offense and do a good job of sharing the ball,” Kellner said. “Defensively, we like to put lots of pressure on the ball. We focus on improving ourselves each day.”
Heavyweight Battles in the Sunshine State
Some have made the claim that the Sunshine State Conference has become the nation’s best in 2019, and with four teams ranked among the top nine in this week’s Nike/US Lacrosse Division II Women's Top 20, it might be hard to argue otherwise.
Entertaining and nationally impactful match-ups are the result.
It started Tuesday with No. 7 Florida Southern flexing its muscles in a 15-6 victory over No. 9 St. Leo, handing the Lions their first loss of the year. The 13-0 start for St. Leo was the best in the program’s eight-year history.
On Wednesday, No. 5 Rollins defeated No. 6 Tampa for the second time this year, winning 18-10. All-American Kallie German’s record-setting 11-point game led the Tars as they snapped Tampa’s six-game winning streak. Rollins also prevailed in a non-conference meeting between the teams to start the season on February 5.
On Saturday, Rollins visits St. Leo in the SSC’s third top 10 match-up in a span of five days.
The top four finishers in the regular season advance to the SSC’s Championship Tournament, which is played on campus sites. The regular season champion retains home field throughout the tournament, providing a significant advantage in the title chase.
Florida Southern, the national championship runner-up in each of the last two years, has won the last four SSC regular-season titles, and leveraged the home-field edge to capture the SSC’s tournament crown in each of the past three years.
Bridgeport’s Forry is a Record-Setting Helper
In her first three seasons at Bridgeport, Courtney Forry registered 37 assists in 45 games played. This season, the senior has 46 assists through 11 games and leads the country with 4.2 assists per game.
The all-time points leader at Bridgeport, Forry has six games this year in which she has dished out at least five assists. She has reset the team’s single-game assist record twice in 2019. The latest came with an eight-assist performance in Bridgeport’s 21-7 win over Post on March 28.
What’s triggered this makeover?
“She has just stepped into a leadership role in our offense and her growth this year has been huge,” said coach Mikayla Place. “She’s been amazing.”
After a 1-3 start, the Purple Knights are now 7-4 overall and in the midst of playing seven straight East Coast Conference games to close out the regular season. Forry’s continued leadership could help Bridgeport secure it’s first-ever ECC postseason berth.
“She’s a laxer,” Place said. “Our team really relies on her.”