DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 27, 2025) – The Mercy University women's lacrosse team hosts No. 6 Adelphi University on Saturday, March 1st at 11 a.m.

Who, When and Where

Date/Time: Saturday, March 1st 11 a.m.

Records: Mercy (2-0), #6 Adelphi (1-2)

Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

Last Meeting vs. Adelphi

Mercy dropped a 19-3 decision at Adelphi on April 6, 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 an 11-10 win at No. 16 New Haven on Wednesday. The Mavericks have been led by senior Leah Hansen who has a team-high 10 points on a team-high eight goals with two assists. Sophomore Riley Wallace is second on the team with five goals and freshman Ashlinn Kelly is tied for third with four goals. Freshman Marena Morales has three goals and an assist and junior Maeghan Callow has four goals and an assist. Sophomore Juliana Talenti has a team-high five assists with six points. Senior Lindsey Shimborske has a team-high 17 draw controls, nine caused turnovers and eight ground balls and junior Emily Marino has five caused turnovers and five ground balls. Callow has seven ground balls to go with three caused turnovers and junior Olivia LaMonica is 2-0 in goal with 14 saves in 102 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 3-0 for the first time since 2020 and looks to defeat Adelphi for the first time. The Mavericks are 0-5 all-time against the Panthers.

Scouting the Panthers

Adelphi is coming off a 13-9 loss at Rollins on Tuesday. The Panthers were picked second in the NE10 Preseason Poll after going 19-4 last season, finishing as National Runner-Up to Tampa. Adelphi is currently ranked No. 6 nationally in the IWLCA Poll. The Panthers have been led by Alexandra Leggio who has a team-high 11 points on five goals and a team-high six assists. Marielle Colalillo has a team-high six goals with two assists and Ashley Kolomechuk has four goals and four assists. Payson Hedges has four goals and two assists and Amanda Lee and Rita Sefransky both have four goals and an assist. Lee has a team-high nine ground balls and Sonny Lionetti has a team-high six caused turnovers. Rory Meehan has a team-high 19 draw controls and Madison Marchetta is 1-2 in goal with 30 saves, a .423 save percentage and 14.11 goals-against average.

Next Game

Mercy resumes action on Wednesday, March 5th when they host Assumption at 2 p.m.