DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – The #25 Mercy University Women's Lacrosse Team plays at Southern Connecticut State University on Wednesday, March 11th at 4 p.m.

Who, When and Where

Date/Time: Wednesday, March 11th 4 p.m.

Records: #25 Mercy (4-1), Southern Connecticut State (3-0)

Location: New Haven, Conn.

Last Meeting vs. Southern Connecticut State

Mercy earned a 19-5 win over Southern Connecticut State on March 3, 2018.

Scouting the Mavericks

The Mavericks were picked first in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 10-7 last season, falling in the ECC Championship Final. Mercy is receiving votes nationally in the IWLCA Top 25 poll. The Mavericks look to make the ECC Tournament for the 10th 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 five schools currently ranked in the IWLCA poll.

Sachs and the Mavericks return six ECC All-Conference selections from a year ago, highlighted by ECC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and USA Lacrosse Magazine Preseason All-American Honorable Mention selection sophomore Ashlinn Kelly. Kelly was named IWLCA Second Team All-Region, ECC Midfielder and Rookie of the Year and First Team All-ECC last season. The midfielder ended the 2025 season with 48 goals, 17 assists, 65 points, 29 caused turnovers, 23 ground balls and 15 draw controls. Senior Olivia LaMonica also returns after being named ECC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. LaMonica was named Second Team All-ECC last season after going 10-7 in goal with 120 saves, a .448 save percentage and 10.16 goals-against average.

Also returning for the Mavericks is senior Emily Marino who was named First Team All-ECC last season after recording 24 caused turnovers and 32 ground balls. Junior Riley Wallace returns after being named First Team All-ECC following a season in which she had 47 goals, 11 assists and 58 points. Senior Maeghan Callow is back after being named Second Team All-ECC in 2025. Callow had 17 goals, eight assists, 25 points and 67 draw controls. Sophomore Kayden Meyer was named Second Team All-ECC last year after recording 38 goals, 14 assists and 52 points. Senior Andrea Mott returns for the Mavericks after missing last season due to injury. Mott was named Second Team All-ECC in 2024 after posting 16 goals, 28 assists and 44 points, leading the team in assists.

Junior Juliana Talenti returns after recording 15 goals, 19 assists, 34 points and 27 ground balls. Sophomore Dakota Dieumegard is also back after posting four goals and five assists and junior Madison Traversa and sophomores Sofia Knudsen and Kiera Medina also return.

Seniors Kaci Bates and Rita-Marie Masi also return on defense for Mercy. Bates started 16 games last season and recorded three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Masi started 13 games and had 21 ground balls and 12 caused turnovers. Sophomore Leanna Kwarta is back after starting eight games in 2025 with four caused turnovers. Juniors Olivia Van Dyke and Ashley McQuade also return for the Mavericks.

Also returning in goal for the Mavericks are junior Olivia Bradley and sophomore Liz Byrne. The duo combined for 12 saves last season.

Joining the Mavericks as transfers are sophomore Angela Taddeo and graduate student Kate McNally. Taddeo joins the Mavericks from Division I Stony Brook University and McNally joins Mercy from Division III SUNY Oswego.

Sachs also brings in a strong freshmen recruiting class with Ava Franco, Brigid Burns, Brielle Bilello, Sophia Pittoni, Keira Laibach, Jessica Grzelaczyk, Emma Synan, Emma Batter, and Molly Solnick looking to contribute immediately.

Mercy is coming off a 19-7 loss to two-time defending National Champion #5 Tampa on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by sophomore Kayden Meyer who had a team-high three points on two goals and an assist. Mercy has been led by freshman Jessica Grzelaczyk who has a team-high 17 points on nine goals and eight assists. Sophomore Ashlinn Kelly has 10 goals and four assists to go with 21 draw controls, eight caused turnovers and a team-high 19 ground balls. Junior Juliana Talenti has a team-high nine assists with one goal and sophomore Kayden Meyer has a team-high 15 goals with a team-high nine caused turnovers. Sophomore Angela Taddeo has nine goals and an assist and senior Andrea Mott has eight goals and five assists. Freshman Ava Franco has six goals and six assists and junior Riley Wallace has seven goals and two assists. Senior Emily Marino has eight caused turnovers and senior Olivia LaMonica is 4-1 in goal with 34 saves, a .442 save percentage and 11.00 goals-against average.

Kelly was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, Franco was named Rookie of the Week and Wallace was tabbed to the Honor Roll. Meyer was named ECC Player of the Week last week and Grzelaczyk was tabbed to the Honor Roll. Grzelaczyk was named ECC Player and Rookie of the Week on February 23rd and Kelly was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week. Mercy is ranked No. 25 nationally in the latest IWLCA Top 25 Poll and No. 18 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine Poll. The Mavericks are 4-1 all-time against the Owls with the last meeting coming in 2018.

Scouting the Owls

Southern Connecticut State is coming off a 16-10 win over Saint Michael's on Saturday. The Owls were picked sixth in the NE10 Preseason Poll after going 10-8 last season, falling in the NE10 Championship Quarterfinals. SCSU is led by this week's NE10 Player of the Week Abigail Nolan who has a team-high 13 points on nine goals and four assists. Macy Vail is second on the team with 11 points on seven goals and four assists and Maddox Burton has two goals and a team-high six assists. Sammy Sleve has a team-high six ground balls and Rebecca Sibley has a team-high four caused turnovers with six draw controls. Caelan Connors is 3-0 in goal with 20 saves, a .526 save percentage and 7.20 goals-against average.

Next Game

Mercy plays at Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday, March 14th at 12 p.m.