Women's Lacrosse to Face Second Place ECC Rival Dowling on Friday
Box Score BROOKHAVEN, N.Y. (Apr. 11, 2014) – The Mercy College women's lacrosse team has won four of its last five games and three straight East Coast Conference contests, but will be tested against the second-place Golden Lions of Dowling College on Friday at 4:00 p.m.
Mercy comes into the game looking to pick up an ECC win against one of the upper tier-teams in the league. Dowling looks to close out the ECC slate with a victory against the Mavericks and solidify a second seed in the ECC Championship.
This will be the fifth all-time meeting between the Golden Lions and the Mavericks. The Golden Lions lead the series, 4-0. Last season, the Mavericks fell to the Golden Lions, 15-7, on April 17, 2013. Then-junior Kelsey Bub (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. / Walter Panas [Iona College]) had three goals and fellow classmate Tracey Wandle (Rocky Point, N.Y. / Rocky Point) had three assists.
Last time out, Mercy exploded for eight unanswered goals after trailing 2-0 early in the game to pick up an 11-5 non-conference victory against the Warriors of Merrimack College. Bub posted a hat-trick while juniors Marissa Kluber (Wading River, N.Y. / Shoreham-Wading River) and Michelle Tiernan (Farmingdale, N.Y. / Farmingdale) added two goals apiece.
Dowling comes into Friday's contest at 9-3 overall and 7-1 in the ECC, and is riding a two-game conference winning streak after wins over Queens and STAC. Dowling was picked to finish second in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 13-3 overall and 6-1 in the ECC in 2013.
The squad returns four All-ECC First Team members in junior attack Jackie Andersen, senior midfielder Samantha Stavish, senior defender Meaghan Smith and graduate student goalkeeper Tina Fey. The squad also returns three All-ECC Second Team members in senior midfielder Ashley Kupres, sophomore Allie Merrill and senior defender Samantha Citron.
Andersen leads the attack in all offensive categories with a total of 73 points on 45 goals and 28 assists and has added seven ground balls and seven caused turnovers. Redshirt freshman Katie Meinecke has been Head Coach Kerri McCabe's secret weapon on attack, as she has totaled 44 points on 33 goals and 11 assists while adding 19 ground balls, 15 caused turnovers and 15 draw controls.
Seniors Kelly Di-Fede and Jerilynn Goodfellow round out the starters on attack. Di-Fede has totaled 29 points on 26 goals and three assists, while Goodfellow has totaled 20 points on 15 goals and five assists. Di-Fede is Coach McCabe's draw control specialist, as the senior has posted 40 draw controls, which leads the team. On a side note, the younger sister of Mercy senior Kristen Znaniecki (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y. / Comsewogue) is a member of the Golden Lions team; freshman Kaire Znaniecki has appeared in two games for Dowling, picking up two ground balls and causing one turnover.
The midfield is a strong point of the Golden Lions as well. Stavish has totaled 36 points on 24 goals and 12 assists. The ECC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year has added 26 ground balls, 13 caused turnovers and 27 draw controls. Sophomore Allie Merrill has the next-closest statistical numbers, having totaled 13 points on 10 goals and three assists while adding 12 ground balls and nine draw controls. Redshirt freshman Kim Geiger has been the third option among the scoring midfielders. She has totaled 12 points on nine goals and three assists to go along with 10 ground balls, seven draw controls and five caused turnovers.
The defensive end of the midfield has produced role-player types to balance out the scoring side. Seniors Ashley Kupres and Samantha Citron have combined to total 20 ground balls, 11 caused turnovers and two draw controls. Junior Melissa Gugliemo has added 13 ground balls, nine caused turnovers and eight draw controls.
The defense is led by Smith, who has been called upon to guide freshman Trisha Serras and sophomore Emma Ferreria. Smith has 11 ground balls, nine caused turnovers and 12 draw controls, while Ferreria has been a dual-threat player, scoring nine goals and recording four assists to total 12 points on attack as well as 25 ground balls, 11 caused turnovers and 29 draw controls.
The Golden Lions return a lockdown goalie in Fey, who has logged 636:52 minutes and made 59 saves for a .418 save percentage while giving up 82 goals for a 7.73 goals against average.
Watch the Mavericks as they try to pass the test in traveling to Brookhaven, N.Y. to take on the Golden Lions of Dowling College at 4:00 p.m.
