DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – The #25 Mercy University Women's Lacrosse Team hosts two-time defending National Champion #5 University of Tampa on Saturday, March 7th at 11 a.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Saturday, March 7th 11 a.m.
Records: #25 Mercy (4-0), #5 Tampa (2-1)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Last Meeting vs. Tampa
Tampa earned a 16-3 win over Mercy on March 17, 2025.
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 15-10 win over Bentley in their home opener on Wednesday. The Mavericks were led by junior Riley Wallace who had a game-high four goals and five points. Mercy has been led by freshman Jessica Grzelaczyk who has a team-high 16 points on eight goals and eight assists. Sophomore Ashlinn Kelly has nine goals and four assists to go with 19 draw controls, six caused turnovers and a team-high 15 ground balls. Junior Juliana Talenti has seven assists with one goal and sophomore Kayden Meyer has a team-high 13 goals with a team-high nine caused turnovers. Sophomore Angela Taddeo has nine goals and an assist and senior Andrea Mott has seven goals and five assists. Freshman Ava Franco has five goals and five assists and junior Riley Wallace has six goals and two assists. Senior Emily Marino has six caused turnovers and senior Olivia LaMonica is 4-0 in goal with 32 saves, a .478 save percentage and 9.57 goals-against average.
Meyer was named ECC Player of the Week on Monday and Grzelaczyk was tabbed to the Honor Roll. Grzelaczyk was named ECC Player and Rookie of the Week last week and Kelly was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week. Mercy is ranked No. 25 nationally in the latest IWLCA Top 25 Poll. The Mavericks look to start 5-0 for the first time since 2018. Mercy is 0-4 all-time against Tampa.
Scouting the Spartans
Tampa is coming off a 22-6 win over Lander in their last game on Monday. The Spartans are the two-time defending National Champions. Tampa was picked first in the Sunshine State Conference after going 21-1 last season, winning their second straight National Championship. The Spartans are ranked No. 5 nationally in the IWLCA Top 25 Poll. Tampa has been led by Mary Kate Person who has a team-high 14 points on 11 goals and three assists. Peyton Howell is second on the team with 13 points on eight goals and five assists and Isabel McGarvey has eight goals and three assists. Alexa Borges has a team-high nine assists. Isabella Avila has a team-high 11 caused turnovers and eight ground balls with 14 draw controls. Savvy Barbosa has a team-high seven saves with a .333 save percentage.
Next Game
Mercy plays at Southern Connecticut State on Wednesday, March 11th at 4 p.m.
