DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 3, 2025) – The No. 23 Mercy University women's lacrosse team hosts No. 24 Assumption University on Wednesday, March 5th at 2 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Wednesday, March 5th 2 p.m.
Records: #23 Mercy (2-1), #24 Assumption (1-0)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Last Meeting vs. Assumption
Assumption earned a 10-9 win over Mercy on March 20, 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 13-12 loss to No. 6 Adelphi on Saturday. The Mavericks have been led by senior Leah Hansen who has a team-high 11 points on a team-high nine goals with two assists. Sophomore Riley Wallace is second on the team with eight goals and freshman Ashlinn Kelly is tied for third with six goals to go with one assist and four caused turnovers. Freshman Marena Morales has six 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. Freshman Kayden Meyer has four goals. Senior Lindsey Shimborske has a team-high 34 draw controls, 10 caused turnovers and 10 ground balls and junior Emily Marino has six caused turnovers and six ground balls. Callow has seven ground balls to go with three caused turnovers and junior Olivia LaMonica is 2-1 in goal with 25 saves in 165 minutes of action.
Shimborske was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday and Wallace, Kelly, Morales and Meyer were tabbed to the Honor Roll. Shimborske was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week last week 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 4-5 all-time against the Greyhounds
Scouting the Greyhounds
Assumption is coming off a 16-2 win over American International in their season opener on February 25th. The Greyhounds were picked fifth in the NE10 Preseason Poll after going 10-8 last season, qualifying for the NE10 Championship. Assumption is ranked No. 24 nationally in the IWLCA Poll. The Greyhounds are led by Mallory Bartlett and Molly Weiand who both have a team-high four goals. Kyle Johnston has three goals and an assist and Katelynn Johnston and Margaret Loeber has a goal and an assist. Kailey Butler has a team-high two ground balls and Weiand has a team-high two caused turnovers. Madison Field and Annika Pyy both have a team-high three draw controls and Skylar Troyan is 1-0 in goal with three saves in 37:03 minutes of action.
Next Game
Mercy resumes action on Saturday, March 8th when they play at Bentley at 2 p.m.
