DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 25, 2025) – The Mercy University women's lacrosse team plays at No. 16 University of New Haven on Wednesday, February 26th at 4 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Wednesday, February 26th 4 p.m.
Records: Mercy (1-0), #16 New Haven (1-0)
Location: West Haven, Conn.
Last Meeting vs. New Haven
Mercy earned a 13-12 win over New Haven on February 28, 2024.
Scouting the Mavericks
The Mavericks were picked second in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 9-10 last season, falling in the ECC Championship Final. Mercy looks to make the ECC Tournament for the ninth straight season and looks to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time since 2017. Head Coach Dawn Sachs and the Mavericks will face seven schools currently ranked in the IWLCA poll.
Sachs and the Mavericks return four All-ECC selections from a year ago, highlighted by ECC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Lindsey Shimborske. Shimborske was named USA Lacrosse Magazine Preseason First Team All-American after being the reigning back-to-back ECC Defensive Player of the Year. Shimborske was also named IWLCA First Team All-American, USA Lacrosse Second Team All-American and IWLCA First Team All-Region last year. She led the ECC in caused turnovers (41) and ranked second in ground balls (48) and draw controls (114) last season, all of which ranked in the top 25 nationally.
Also returning is senior Leah Hansen who was named IWLCA Second Team All-Region and First Team All-ECC in 2024. The senior had 65 goals, eight assists and 73 points last season, leading the team in goals and points. Hansen led the ECC in goals and was fourth in points. Junior Andrea Mott returns after being named Second All-ECC last season. Mott had 16 goals, 28 assists and 44 points a year ago. She led the team in assists and was third in points. Mott ranked fourth in the ECC in assists. Junior Emily Marino is back after being named Second Team All-ECC last season. Marino recorded 23 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers in 2024.
Junior Maeghan Callow returns after posting 11 goals, eight assists, 19 points and 48 draw controls last season and sophomore Riley Wallace is back after recording 14 goals and three assists. Sophomore Juliana Talenti also returns after netting four goals, two assists, 21 ground balls and 12 caused turnovers last season. Senior Tatiana Moran, junior Rita-Marie Masi and sophomore Madison Preston also return after combining for six goals and one assist last season.
Junior Kaci Bates returns after starting all 19 games last season, finishing with nine ground balls and 14 caused turnovers. Sophomores Madison Traversa and Ashley McQuade and Olivia Van Dyke also return after combining for three ground balls in seven games last season.
Returning in goal for the Mavericks is junior Olivia LaMonica who went 2-3 in goal last season with 63 saves, a 10.39 goals-against average and .426 save percentage in 490 minutes of action. Also returning in goal is sophomore Olivia Bradley who appeared in four games in 2024 and made three saves.
Sachs will also look to a strong recruiting class in freshmen Liz Byrne, Sofia Knudsen, Kiera Medina, Kayden Meyer, Marena Morales, Leanna Kwarta and Ashlinn Kelly to help get Mercy back to the ECC Tournament. Knudsen was named All-County last season at Mattituck High School, Morales recorded 227 career goals at Tolland High School and over 300 career points in high school, Kwarta was tabbed All-County and All-Division at Lindenhurst High School and Kelly recorded 100 career points at Farmingdale High School and was named All-Conference and All-County.
Mercy is coming off a 15-3 win over Georgian Court in their season opener on February 19th. The Mavericks have been led by senior Leah Hansen who has a team-high seven points on five goals and two assists. Sophomore Riley Wallace is second on the team with four goals and freshman Ashlinn Kelly is third with three goals. Freshman Marena Morales has two goals and an assist and junior Maeghan Callow has one goal. Senior Lindsey Shimborske has a team-high eight draw controls and five caused turnovers with four ground balls and junior Emily Marino has four caused turnovers and four ground balls. Callow has a team-high six ground balls to go with three caused turnovers and junior Olivia LaMonica is 1-0 in goal with five saves in 45 minutes of action.
Shimborske was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday and Kelly was tabbed Rookie of the Week. Hansen and Wallace were tabbed to the Honor Roll.
Mercy looks to start 2-0 for the first time since 2021. The Mavericks are 2-3 all-time against New Haven and are 0-3 all-time at New Haven.
Scouting the Chargers
New Haven is coming off a 16-7 win at Mount Olive on Saturday. The Chargers were picked third in the NE10 Preseason Poll after going 12-7 last season, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. The Chargers are currently ranked No. 16 nationally in the IWLCA Poll New Haven has been led by Caitlin Seleny who has a team-high six points on three goals and three assists. Gianna Caprioli has a team-high four goals with an assist and Helena Dunwoody and Katie Schenk both have three goals and an assist. Caprioli and Schenk both have a team-high four ground balls and Dunwoody has a team-high 11 draw controls. One-time NE10 Goalie of the Week Madeline Sage is 1-0 in goal with 11 saves, a .647 save percentage and 6.15 goals-against average in 58 minutes.
Next Game
Mercy resumes action on Saturday, March 1st when they host No. 6 Adelphi at 11 a.m.
