DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 26, 2024) – The No. 16/20 Mercy University women's lacrosse team hosts No. 14 University of New Haven in their home opener on Wednesday, February 28th at 3 p.m.

Who, When and Where

Date/Time: Wednesday, February 28th 3 p.m.

Records: #16/20 Mercy (0-1), #14/19 New Haven (0-0)

Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

Last Meeting vs. New Haven

New Haven earned a 17-7 win over Mercy on April 11, 2023.

Scouting the Mavericks

Mercy opened their 2024 season with a 14-8 loss at No. 1/3 West Chester on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by junior Leena Moussa who had a game-high-tying five points on three goals and two assists. Senior Christina Lopreato added four caused turnovers and six draw controls. Mercy enters the 2024 season ranked No. 17 nationally in the ILWomen/IWLCA poll and No. 18 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll. The Mavericks were picked first in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 13-6 last season, winning their second straight ECC Championship. Mercy looks to make the ECC Tournament for the eighth straight season and looks to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time since 2017 after ending last season on a seven-game winning streak. Head Coach Dawn Sachs and the Mavericks will face five schools currently ranked in the top six nationally in the ILWomen/IWLCA poll.

Sachs and the Mavericks return five ECC All-Conference performers from a year ago and one All-American. Leading the returners is ECC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year junior Lindsey Shimborske who was named IWLCA Second Team All-American, IWLCA First Team All-Region and ECC Defensive Player of the Year last season. Shimborske recorded a team-high 55 ground balls, 55 caused turnovers and 83 draw controls. The junior set Mercy's single-season school record for caused turnovers, ranking fourth nationally in caused turnovers per game. Shimborske was named the ECC Women's Lacrosse Championship's Most Outstanding Player following Mercy's ECC Championship win over Roberts Wesleyan. The defender finished the season as the ECC leader in caused turnovers per game (3.06), second in the ECC in ground balls per game (3.06), and fourth in the ECC in draw controls per game (4.61).

Also returning for the Mavericks is junior Leena Moussa who was named First Team All-ECC last season after being named to the ECC Honor Roll twice. Moussa had a team-high 52 goals in 2023 and was second on the team with 66 points. Graduate student Erin Shimborske also returns after being named First Team All-ECC last season. Shimborske ended 2023 with 19 goals, 11 assists, 30 points, 34 ground balls and 27 caused turnovers. She ranked third on the team in caused turnovers and fourth in ground balls.

Seniors Kelly Rosenfeld and Christina Lopreato will return after both were named Second Team All-ECC a season ago. Rosenfeld produced 14 goals, 10 assists, 24 points, 29 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers in 2023. She ranked fifth on the team in ground balls. Lopreato was a one-time ECC Honor Roll recipient last season and ended the 2023 campaign with 22 draw controls, 13 caused turnovers and 15 ground balls.

Junior Leah Hansen returns after being named to the ECC Honor Roll twice last season. She appeared in all 19 games and had 37 goals and 41 points. Hansen ranked fourth on the team in goals and fifth in points. Freshman Andrea Mott was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week once last season and recorded 17 goals, 22 assists and 39 points in 14 games in 2023. She ranked second on the team in assists.

Sophomore Maeghan Callow returns after appearing in all 19 games last season, finishing with seven goals, five assists, 12 points and 14 draw controls. Graduate student Sydney Corley is back after posting nine goals and two assists and senior Brooke Zarou returns after netting six goals and four assists last season. Senior Ryleigh Hostinsky and junior Tatiana Moran also return for Sachs.

Senior Savanna Spadalik returns on defense after recording 10 caused turnovers and 13 ground balls last season. Senior Carly Diolosa had eight caused turnovers and 10 ground balls in 2023 and returns for her final year as a Maverick. Sophomores Kaci Bates and Emily Marino, junior Isabelle Palladino and senior Mackenzie Cummings also return after combining for six caused turnovers and 10 ground balls in 2023.

Returning in goal are senior Olivia Maute and sophomore Olivia LaMonica. Maute made 18 starts in goal last season and went 9-6 with 83 saves, a .367 save percentage and 11.04 goals-against average. LaMonica appeared in 13 games with one start, going 4-0 with 39 saves, a .500 save percentage and 6.43 goals-against average. The sophomore stopped five shots in the second half of the ECC Championship against Roberts Wesleyan to earn the win. Freshman Olivia Bradley joins the Mavericks in goal from Commack High School where she was named All-Division twice and All-County Honorable Mention.

Leading the newcomers is graduate student transfer Ryan Smith who joins the Mavericks from ECC foe Molloy University. Smith was named First Team All-ECC as a sophomore and Second Team All-ECC as a freshman. She ended her Molloy career with 72 ground balls, 67 caused turnovers and 48 draw controls. Sachs also welcomes sophomore Rita-Marie Masi who joins the team after playing two seasons with the Mercy University women's soccer team. Freshman Riley Wallace joins the Mavericks after being named All-County, All-League and All-Division at Islip High School. Freshman Madison Preston led Brookfield High School in caused turnovers and ground balls and freshman Olivia Van Dyke joins the Mavericks from Rocky Point high school where she was a three-year member of the varsity lacrosse team. Freshman Juliana Talenti was named All-Conference twice at Bethpage High School and freshman Ashley McQuade won the Suffolk County Championship at Northport High School. Freshman Madison Traversa rounds out the newcomers for Sachs and she joins the Mavericks after being named All-Conference twice at Bethpage High School.

Moussa was named to the ECC Honor Roll on Monday after recording a team-high five points on a team-high three goals and two assists in the season opener at West Chester on Saturday. Senior Kelly Rosenfeld and sophomore Andrea Mott both had a goal and an assist and junior Leah Hansen and graduate student Sydney Corley each had a goal.

Junior Lindsey Shimborske also had a goal with a team-high six ground balls to go with three caused turnovers and three draw controls. Senior Christina Lopreato had a team-high four caused turnovers and six draw controls. Senior Olivia Maute played the first half in goal and made three saves to the loss. Sophomore Olivia LaMonica made five saves in the second half.

Mercy has not started 0-2 since 2012 and looks to win their home opener for the first time since 2022. The Mavericks are 1-3 all-time against New Haven with the lone win coming in 2019. Mercy is ranked No. 16 nationally in the ILWomen/IWLCA poll and No. 20 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll.

Scouting the Chargers

New Haven is currently ranked No. 14 nationally in the ILWomen/IWLCA Top 25 poll and No. 19 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll. The Chargers were picked sixth in the NE10 Preseason Poll after going 11-8 last season, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Leading the returners for the Chargers is Cameryn Antler who had 38 points on 31 goals and seven assists last season. Gianna Caprioli also returns after posting 23 goals and 12 assists a year ago. Caprioli also had a team-high 48 ground balls, 26 caused turnovers and 76 draw controls last season. Returning in goal is Gabby Buscemi who went 10-7 last season in goal with 187 saves, a .468 save percentage and 11.53 goals-against average.

Next Game

Mercy hosts Bentley on Saturday, March 2nd at 11 a.m.