DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 2, 2024) – The RV Mercy University women's lacrosse team hosts defending National Champion #1 Pace University on Wednesday, April 3rd at 2 p.m.

Who, When and Where

Date/Time: Wednesday, April 3rd 2 p.m.

Records: RV Mercy (4-6), #1 Pace (9-0)

Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

Last Meeting vs. Pace

Pace earned a 13-3 win over Mercy on May 14, 2016.

Scouting the Mavericks

Mercy is coming off a 15-8 win over Jefferson on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by junior Leah Hansen who had a game-high seven points on five goals and two assists and by graduate student Ryan Smith who had a game-high five caused turnovers and six ground balls. 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 33 points on 23 goals with 10 assists. Moussa recorded her 100th career point against STAC on March 27th. Junior Leah Hansen has been named ECC Offensive Player of the Week twice and named to the Honor Roll twice and leads the team with 34 goals and 39 points and senior Kelly Rosenfeld has 16 points on nine goals and seven assists. Hansen recorded her 100th career point against Assumption on March 20th and Rosenfeld recorded her 100th career point against Jefferson on March 30th. Graduate student Sydney Corley has 15 goals and four assists and sophomore Maeghan Callow has two goals and six assists. Graduate student Erin Shimborske has eight goals, seven assists, 19 ground balls and nine 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 and has seven goals and two assists. Mott was named to the ECC Honor Roll on April 1st and has five goals and a team-high 15 assists.  

Junior Lindsey Shimborske has been named ECC Defensive Player of the Week once and has been named to the Honor Roll three times. She has two goals with a team-high 38 ground balls to go with 24 caused turnovers and 66 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 11 caused turnovers and 35 draw controls. She recorded her 100th career draw control against Bentley. Senior Olivia Maute has started all 10 games and played the first half in goal in seven games going 2-5 with a team-high 37 saves, a .385 save percentage and 11.80 goals-against average. Sophomore Olivia LaMonica is 2-1 in goal with 29 saves, a .392 save percentage and 10.59 goals-against average.

Mercy is receiving votes nationally in the latest ILWomen/IWLCA poll. The Mavericks are 0-1 all-time against Pace.

Scouting the Setters

Pace is coming off a 16-8 win over Southern New Hampshire on Saturday. The Setters were picked first in the NE10 Preseason Poll after going 21-2 last season, winning their first-ever National Championship. Pace is ranked No. 1 nationally in the ILWomen/IWLCA poll and No. 2 nationally in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll. The Setters are led by this week's NE10 Player of the Week Angelina Porcello who has a team-high 34 goals, 47 points, 27 ground balls, 24 caused turnovers and 57 draw controls. This week's NE10 Rookie of the Week Maddie Schubert is second on the team with 33 goals and 37 points and Sydney Juvelier has 23 goals, seven assists and 30 points. This week's NE10 Defensive Player of the Week Alexandra Quinn has 15 caused turnovers, and 36 draw controls and Delilah Doyle is second on the team with 21 caused turnovers. Samantha Tanguay is 8-0 in goal with 46 saves, a .517 save percentage and 6.47 goals-against average.

Next Game

Mercy plays at No. 3 Adelphi on Saturday, April 6th at 2 p.m.