Roche, Vendel Earn Weekly Honors
Seniors Ali Roche and Betsy Vendel were honored by the NEC.
Central Connecticut women's lacrosse seniors Betsy Vendel and Ali Roche earned weekly honors from the Northeast Conference on Monday afternoon. Roche was named NEC Defensive Player of the Week and Vendel earned NEC Co-Player of the Week honors after the duo led CCSU to a 3-0 record. The lacrosse team achieved a number of firsts over the last seven days as the team posted its first 4-0 start to NEC play and its first victories over intrastate rivals Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac. The Blue Devils are also riding a program record five-game winning streak.
Vendel led the Blue Devil offense with 10 points and 14 draw controls last week. CCSU defeated Manhattan, Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac, allowing 10 goals or less in each contest. Vendel contributed seven points on the strength of three goals and four assists in the win over Manhattan. She then scored once and captured four draw controls as the Blue Devils defeated Sacred Heart on Thursday. On Saturday, she posted two points on a goal and assist and gave CCSU possession time after time with six draw controls.
Vendel averaged 3.3 points per game, 1.67 goals, 1.67 assists, 4.67 draw controls and one ground ball per game. She also recorded her 200th career point in a Blue Devil uniform during the week.
Roche was a defensive force as the Blue Devils held each of their three opponents under 10 goals this past week. She recorded 17 ground balls and caused seven turnovers in wins over Manhattan, Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac last week.
After collecting three ground balls and causing three turnovers against the Jaspers, she totaled 14 ground balls and four caused turnovers against the NEC foes, beginning with a seven-ground ball, one-caused turnover performance against Sacred Heart. She then posted seven ground balls again and recorded three caused turnovers against the Bobcats.
Roche posted per game averages of 5.67 ground balls and 2.33 caused turnovers per game. In NEC play Roche's per game numbers jump to 7.0 ground balls per game and 2.0 caused turnovers. Roche also had a draw control in CCSU's game against Quinnipiac.
The Blue Devils will return to action this Friday at Bryant. The Bulldogs are currently in third place in the NEC standings with a 3-1 record. CCSU topped Bryant last season at home by a score of 11-5.
