DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 19, 2024) – The No. 23 Mercy University women's lacrosse team plays at No. 22 Assumption on Wednesday, March 20th at 4 p.m.

Who, When and Where

Date/Time: Wednesday, March 20th 4 p.m.

Records: #23 Mercy (1-5), #22 Assumption (2-3)

Location: Worcester, Mass.

Last Meeting vs. Assumption

Mercy earned a 13-11 win over Assumption on March 1, 2023.

Scouting the Mavericks

Mercy is coming off a 10-6 loss at Bloomsburg on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by graduate student Sydney Corley who had a game-high four points and by junior Lindsey Shimborske who had a game-high six caused turnovers. Mercy entered 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 has been named to the ECC Honor Roll twice this season and has 19 points on 14 goals with five assists. Junior Leah Hansen has been named ECC Offensive Player of the Week twice and leads the team with 21 goals and 22 points and senior Kelly Rosenfeld has 10 points on six goals and four assists. Graduate student Sydney Corley has eight goals and two assists and sophomore Maeghan Callow has two goals and five assists. Graduate student Erin Shimborske has two goals, four assists, 12 ground balls and five caused turnovers.

Junior Lindsey Shimborske has been named ECC Defensive Player of the Week once and was named to the ECC Honor Roll on Monday. She has a goal with a team-high 24 ground balls to go with 17 caused turnovers and 27 draw controls. Shimborske recorded her 100th career caused turnover against New Haven on February 28th. Senior Christina Lopreato has nine caused turnovers and 24 draw controls. She recorded her 100th career draw control against Bentley. Senior Olivia Maute has started all six games and played the first half in goal in all five games going 0-4 with 22 saves, a .338 save percentage and 14.33 goals-against average. Sophomore Olivia LaMonica is 1-1 in goal with a team-high 25 saves, a .385 save percentage and 13.33 goals-against average.

Mercy is ranked No. 23 nationally in the ILWomen/IWLCA poll. The Mavericks are 4-4 all-time against Assumption.  

Scouting the Greyhounds

Assumption is coming off a 13-11 loss against Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday. The Greyhounds were picked fourth in the NE10 Preseason Poll after going 9-8 last season, falling in the NE10 Championship Quarterfinals. Assumption is led by Jenna Joseph who has a team-high 28 points on nine goals and a team-high 19 assists. Kyle Johnston has a team-high 13 goals with one assists and Olivia Catanzarite has 12 goals and two assists. Charlotte McGroarty has a team-high 11 ground balls and Caroline O'Connell has a team-high six caused turnovers. Annika Pyy has a team-high 21 draw controls and Skylar Troyan is 1-3 in goal with 24 saves, a .381 save percentage and 13.29 goals-against average.

Next Game

Mercy hosts UDC on Saturday, March 23rd at 12 p.m.