DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 6, 2024) – The No. 17 Mercy University women's lacrosse team hosts No. 4 University of Tampa on Thursday, March 7th at 2 p.m. and No. 5 Florida Southern College on Saturday, March 9th at 11 a.m.

Who, When and Where

Date/Time: Thursday, March 7th 2 p.m.

Records: #17 Mercy (1-2), #4 Tampa (2-2)

Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

Date/Time: Saturday, March 9th 11 a.m.

Records: #17 Mercy (1-2), #5 Florida Southern (4-2)

Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

Last Meeting vs. Tampa

Tampa earned an 18-15 win over Mercy on March 18, 2023.

Last Meeting vs. Florida Southern

Florida Southern earned a 16-13 win over Mercy on March 16, 2023.

Scouting the Mavericks

Mercy is coming off a 16-9 loss to No. 18 Bentley on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by juniors Leena Moussa and Leah Hansen who both had a team-high three goals. 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 was named to the ECC Honor Roll on Monday for the second time this season and has a team-high 14 points on a team-high 12 goals with two assists. Junior Leah Hansen was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday and is second on the team with 11 goals and 11 points and senior Kelly Rosenfeld and sophomore Maeghan Callow both have a goal and three assists. Sophomore Andrea Mott has two goals, and one assist and graduate student Sydney Corley has one goal.

Junior Lindsey Shimborske was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday and has a goal with a team-high 16 ground balls to go with 11 caused turnovers and six draw controls. Shimborske recorded her 100th career caused turnover against New Haven on February 28th. Senior Christina Lopreato has eight caused turnovers and a team-high 12 draw controls. She recorded her 100th career draw control against Bentley. Senior Olivia Maute has started all three games and played the first half in goal in all three games going 0-2 with a team-high 14 saves, a .389 save percentage and 14.67 goals-against average. Sophomore Olivia LaMonica is 1-0 in goal with 11 saves, a .355 save percentage and 13.33 goals-against average.

Mercy is ranked No. 17 nationally in the ILWomen/IWLCA poll. The Mavericks are 0-2 all-time against Tampa and 0-3 all-time against Florida Southern.

Scouting the Spartans

Tampa is coming off an 11-5 loss at No. 1 Pace on Monday. The Spartans were picked second in the Sunshine State Conference Preseason Poll after going 18-3 last season, falling in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals. Tampa is ranked No. 4 nationally in the ILWomen/IWLCA poll and is led by Sarah Hinkle who has a team-high 18 points on a team-high 16 goals with two assists. Cece Colombo has a team-high nine assists with eight goals and Peyton Howell and Sophi Wrisk both have 12 points. Lexi Waters has a team-high 10 ground balls and Colombo has a team-high eight caused turnovers. Colombo also has a team-high 25 draw controls and Alex Walling is 2-1 in goal with 19 saves, a .543 save percentage and 5.77 goals-against average.

Scouting the Mocs

Florida Southern is coming off a 16-14 loss to Regis on Monday. The Mocs will play at Pace on Thursday before playing at Mercy on Saturday. Florida Southern was picked first in the Sunshine State Conference Preseason Poll after going 18-4 last season, falling in the NCAA Tournament Final Four. The Mocs are led by Jackie Stoller who leads the team with 25 goals, 14 assists, 39 points and 12 ground balls. Madison Tare has 23 goals, and three assists and Abby McFerren has 13 goals and nine assists. Brayden Cannelli has a team-high 10 caused turnovers and a team-high 21 draw controls. McKenzie Gaghan is 4-2 in goal with 28 saves, a .333 save percentage and 12.57 goals-against average.

Next Game

Mercy plays at Bloomsburg on Saturday, March 16th at 1 p.m.