DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 26, 2024) – The RV Mercy University women's lacrosse team plays at ECC foe St. Thomas Aquinas on Wednesday, March 27th at 3 p.m.

Who, When and Where

Date/Time: Wednesday, March 27th 3 p.m.

Records: RV Mercy (2-6, 1-0 ECC), St. Thomas Aquinas (3-6, 0-0 ECC)

Location: Sparkill, N.Y.

Last Meeting vs. St. Thomas Aquinas

Mercy earned a 19-0 win over STAC on April 8, 2023.

Scouting the Mavericks

Mercy is coming off an 18-0 win over UDC on Friday. The Mavericks were led by junior Leena Moussa who had a game-high-tying four points on a game-high three goals with one assist. 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 24 points on 18 goals with six assists. Junior Leah Hansen has been named ECC Offensive Player of the Week twice and named to the Honor Roll once and leads the team with 26 goals and 28 points and senior Kelly Rosenfeld has 13 points on seven goals and six assists. Hansen recorded her 100th career point against Assumption on March 20th. Graduate student Sydney Corley has 11 goals and three assists and sophomore Maeghan Callow has two goals and five assists. Graduate student Erin Shimborske has four goals, six assists, 15 ground balls and six caused turnovers. She recorded her 100th career ground ball in the win over UDC on March 22nd. Freshman Riley Wallace was named ECC Rookie of the Week on March 25th.

Junior Lindsey Shimborske has been named ECC Defensive Player of the Week once and has been named to the Honor Roll twice. She has two goals with a team-high 30 ground balls to go with 20 caused turnovers and 47 draw controls. Shimborske recorded her 100th career caused turnover against New Haven on February 28th and her 200th career draw control on March 22nd. Senior Christina Lopreato has nine caused turnovers and 30 draw controls. She recorded her 100th career draw control against Bentley. Senior Olivia Maute has started all eight games and played the first half in goal in six games going 1-5 with a team-high 34 saves, a .391 save percentage and 12.47 goals-against average. Sophomore Olivia LaMonica is 1-1 in goal with 26 saves, a .394 save percentage and 12.31 goals-against average.

Mercy is receiving votes nationally in the latest ILWomen/IWLCA poll. The Mavericks are 11-4 all-time against STAC and have won eight straight meetings. Mercy looks to start 2-0 in ECC play for the first time since 2022.

Scouting the Spartans

STAC is coming off a 20-2 loss at Southern Connecticut State on Saturday for their third straight loss. The Spartans were picked sixth in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 2-12 last season. STAC is led by Katelyn Cerrato who has a team-high 25 points on 17 goals and eight assists. Arianna Tribble has 19 points on 10 goals and a team-high nine assists and Olivia Cerbo has 11 goals and seven assists. Ella Entress has a team-high-tying 17 goals and Hailey Galison has a team-high 48 ground balls, 30 draw controls and 15 caused turnovers. Lilah Magenheimer is 3-6 in goal with 68 saves, a .366 save percentage and 13.11 goals-against average.  

Next Game

Mercy hosts Jefferson on Saturday, March 30th at 2:30 p.m.