DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 13, 2025) – The No. 23 Mercy University women's lacrosse team plays at defending National Champion No. 1 University of Tampa on Sunday, March 16th at 3 p.m.

Who, When and Where

Date/Time: Sunday, March 16th 3 p.m.

Records: #23 Mercy (3-2), #1 Tampa (7-0)

Location: Tampa, Fla.

Last Meeting vs. Tampa

Mercy dropped a 13-11 decision to Tampa on March 7, 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 14-13 loss at No. 18 Bentley on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by senior Leah Hansen who had a team-high five points on three goals and two assists. The Mavericks have been led by Hansen who has a team-high 20 points on a team-high 16 goals with four assists. Sophomore Riley Wallace is second on the team with 13 goals and 25 draw controls and freshman Ashlinn Kelly is third with 12 goals to go with one assist and 10 caused turnovers. Freshman Marena Morales has nine goals and an assist and junior Maeghan Callow has five goals and three assists. Sophomore Juliana Talenti has a team-high five assists with eight points. Freshman Kayden Meyer has eight goals. Senior Lindsey Shimborske has a team-high 44 draw controls, 13 caused turnovers and 15 ground balls and junior Emily Marino has 10 caused turnovers and 11 ground balls. Callow has 12 ground balls to go with five caused turnovers and junior Olivia LaMonica is 3-2 in goal with 42 saves, a .494 save percentage and 9.05 goals-against average in 285 minutes of action.

Kelly was named ECC Rookie of the Week for the second time on Monday and Hansen and Wallace were named to the Honor Roll. Shimborske was named IWLCA Division II Defensive Player of the Week last week and ECC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time last week. Wallace, Kelly, Meyer and Morales were tabbed to the Honor Roll last week. Shimborske was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on February 24th and Kelly was tabbed Rookie of the Week. Hansen and Wallace were tabbed to the Honor Roll.

Mercy is ranked No. 23 nationally in the IWLCA Poll. The Mavericks are 0-3 all-time against Tampa.

Scouting the Spartans

Tampa is coming off a 16-11 win over #7 Indianapolis on Thursday. Tampa was picked first in the Sunshine State Conference Preseason Poll after going 19-3 last season, winning their first National Championship. The Spartans are currently ranked No. 1 nationally in the IWLCA Poll. Tampa has won 18 straight games dating back to last year. The Spartans have been led by Peyton Howell who has a team-high 38 points on 29 goals and nine assists. Sarah Engle has a team-high 32 goals with 35 points and Sophi Wrisk has 27 goals and seven assists. Jenna Myhal has 18 goals and four assists and Isabel McGarvey has 12 goals and eight assists. Isabella Avila has a team-high 15 caused turnovers and Lexi Waters has a team-high 37 draw controls and 19 ground balls with 14 caused turnovers. Savvy Barbosa has seven saves in 112 minutes with a 4.82 goals-against average and .438 save percentage. Paige Borkowski has a team-high 11 saves with a .297 save percentage in 141 minutes and Kyli Warnkin has seven saves in 125 minutes of action.

Next Game

Mercy resumes action on Wednesday, March 19th when they play at Florida Southern at 7 p.m.