DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 14, 2025) – The No. 25 Mercy University women's lacrosse team plays at No. 9 Pace University on Wednesday, April 16th at 7 p.m.

Who, When and Where

Date/Time: Wednesday, April 16th 7 p.m.

Records: #25 Mercy (7-5), #9 Pace (11-3)

Location: Pleasantville, N.Y.

Last Meeting vs. Pace

Mercy dropped a 12-11 double-overtime decision to Pace on April 3, 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 21-6 win over D'Youville on Sunday. The Mavericks were led by senior Leah Hansen who had a game-high nine points. The Mavericks have been led by senior Leah Hansen who has a team-high 49 points on a team-high 37 goals and 12 assists. Sophomore Riley Wallace has 35 goals with 36 draw controls and freshman Ashlinn Kelly is third on the team with 31 goals to go with 10 assists and 19 caused turnovers. Freshman Marena Morales has 18 goals and an assist and junior Maeghan Callow has 13 goals and five assists. Callow recorded her 100th career draw control in the win over D'Youville on April 13th. Sophomore Juliana Talenti has 10 assists with 17 points and freshman Kayden Meyer has 25 goals and five assists. Senior Lindsey Shimborske has a team-high 92 draw controls, 30 caused turnovers and 42 ground balls and junior Emily Marino has 16 caused turnovers and 22 ground balls. Callow has 27 ground balls to go with 11 caused turnovers and junior Olivia LaMonica is 7-5 in goal with 85 saves, a .440 save percentage and 10.51 goals-against average in 616 minutes of action.

Hansen was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week and Kelly was named Rookie of the Week on Monday. Meyer and Wallace were tabbed to the Honor Roll on Monday. Shimborske, Wallace and Kelly were named to the ECC Honor Roll on last week. Kelly was named ECC Rookie of the Week for the third time on March 31st and Shimborske, LaMonica and Meyer were tabbed to the Honor Roll. Shimborske was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week for the third time on March 24th. Kelly was named ECC Rookie of the Week for the second time on March 10th and Hansen and Wallace were named to the Honor Roll. Shimborske was named IWLCA Division II Defensive Player of the Week on March 4th and ECC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time on March 3rd. Wallace, Kelly, Meyer and Morales were tabbed to the Honor Roll on March 3rd. 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. 25 nationally in the IWLCA Poll. The Mavericks are 1-1 all-time against Pace.

Scouting the Setters

Pace is coming off a 17-4 win over Saint Michael's on Saturday. The Setters were picked first in the NE10 Preseason Poll after going 21-1 last season, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Pace is ranked No. 9 nationally in the IWLCA Top 25 Poll. The Setters won the National Championship in 2023. Pace is led by Nikki Mottes who has a team-high 67 points on 28 goals and a team-high 39 assists. Mackenzie Carita has a team-high 53 goals with 63 points and Annie Sheehan has 28 goals and 16 assists. Colleen Gilligan has a team-high 18 caused turnovers with 29 ground balls and Sasha Kulo has a team-high 76 draw controls. Samantha Tanguay is 10-2 in goal with 72 saves, a .414 save percentage and 9.47 goals-against average to go with a team-high 34 ground balls.

Next Game

Mercy resumes action on Saturday, April 19th when they play at UDC at 1 p.m.