First Road Game of 2018: Bus Trip to Harvard (Feb. 17)

New Hampshire (1-0) at Harvard (0-0)
Saturday, February 17 • Jordan Field • 12 p.m.
Video | Live Stats

UNH Duo Earns America East Weekly Accolades

Cat Sexton and Catherine Sennott were named Offensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, on Monday following UNH's 14-2 season-opening home win vs. Sacred Heart.
Sexton , a junior attacker, recorded two goals and a personal-best four assists to finish with a career-high six points. She set up each of the first two goals of the game to help propel the Wildcats to a 4-0 lead that would not be relinquished.
Sennott recorded team highs in both ground balls (three) and caused turnovers (two) to help UNH limit Sacred Heart to two goals and just seven shots. Her three GBs and two CTOs tied for game highs.

The Matchup

UNH has a 17-21 lifetime record against Harvard. The Crimson has won each of the last four meetings – 2010, 2011, 2016, 2017.
Last year in the season opener for both teams at Wildcat Stadium, Harvard scored with two seconds left in the first half to tie the score at 8, then opened the second half on a 4-0 run to build a 12-8 lead (with 18:40 remaining) en route to an 18-11 victory. UNH goalie Kate Clancy recorded a career-high 19 saves. Box | Recap
These programs met annually from 1987-2011. The first ever meeting was in 1978.

'Cats Coast Past Pioneers

New Hampshire scored the first four goals of the game and seized control of the game with a 9-0 run (that overlapped the first and second halves) to record a 14-2 victory against Sacred Heart in the 2018 season opener last Saturday at Bremner Field.
The two goals marked the fewest allowed by the 'Cats since April 5, 2014.
SHU's seven shots marked the lowest total by a UNH opponent since March 26, 2016.
UNH outscored Sacred Heart 7-1 in both halves.
Box | Recap

Notable Numbers

Junior attacker Cat Sexton recorded career highs in both assists (four) and points (six) against Sacred Heart.
Senior attacker Krissy Schafer scored a personal-best five goals and finished with a career high of five points.
Junior attacker Anna Vogt tallied three points on three goals – both career highs.
Senior midfielder Carly Wooters extended her point streak to 13 games with two goals and an assist.
Freshman midfielder Julia Neyland recorded a goal and an assist in her collegiate debut.
Senior midfielder Rebecca Sennott corralled a career-high four draw controls to help give the 'Cats a 10-7 edge in that stat.

The State of New Hampshire

UNH is led by sixth-year head coach Sarah Albrecht.
The Wildcats went 3-14 overall, including 3-3 in America East, and advanced to the conference semifinals last year; 18 letterwinners return from that squad.
New Hampshire's 24-player roster includes senior captain Lizzie Suschana and six newcomers – all freshmen.
The 'Cats were selected fourth in the 2018 America East Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Preseason Poll that was released Feb. 1.
UNH returns two of the top three players in goals, assists and points from the 2017 season.
The top two and 4 of 5 in ground balls also return, as does the leader in both ground balls and turnovers (it's the same player – Cat Sennott).

Senior-Laden Squad

Seniors comprise nearly half the roster with 10 Wildcats in that class.

Quadruple Double

Senior midfielder Carly Wooters is the only returning Wildcat who recorded double digits in goals, groundballs, draw controls and caused turnovers last year.
Only one other 'Cat accomplished that feat: Marissa Gurello.
Hope Kissick, who also graduated last May, was the only other UNH player who tallied double figures in GB, DC and CTO.

On the Attack

Here's the short and tall of it: four attackers are either 5-foot-2/5-3 and the other three are 5-11/6-1.
Senior Krissy Schafer (5-2) is the top returning goal scorer and point producer; she tied for the team lead in goals (30) and tied for second in points (32). Schafer was a highly-accurate shooter with a .791 shots on goal percentage and .448 shooting percentage.
Classmate Teagan Northrup, the tallest Wildcat at 6-1, is the next leading point producer among the seven attackers. She tallied five goals and four assists for nine points.
UNH added a pair of 5-11 attackers – from opposite coasts – in Haley Bridgeman (Wolfeboro, N.H.) and Sabrina Grovom (San Marcos, Calif.).

In the Middle of It All

Senior Carly Wooters leads a group of 10 midfielders. Wooters recorded a team-high nine assists last year and tied for second in points (32); she ranked third in goals (23). In other stats, Wooters was No. 1 in draw controls and shots (100 of the team's 419), and No. 4 in ground balls.
UNH welcomes back senior Devan Miller, who was sidelined by injury the last 12 games of the 2017 season. Miller recorded eight goals and seven assists for 15 points in just five games; those stats ranked third in assists and fifth in points.
Four of UNH's six newcomers will patrol the midfield. They are Tatum Benesh, Elizabeth Blanding, Gabby Masseur and Julia Neyland.

Getting Defensive

Senior captain Lizzie Suschana and classmate Cat Sennott anchor a defensive unit comprised of five Wildcats.
Sennott led last year's squad in both ground balls (34) and caused turnovers (17). She recorded multiple ground balls in 12 of 17 games and was credited with multiple CTOs five times.
Suschana ranked fifth in both ground balls (21) and draw controls.
The other three 'Cats are veterans, but with little game experience. Senior Maddie Maurer, sidelined by injury last year, has played in seven career games. Junior Elise Chandler played in one game each of her first two years, and classmate Jessica Lee has not made her collegiate debut.

Last Line of Defense

Senior goalkeeper Kate Clancy has started all 40 games the past three years and no other goalie saw action in 2017. She recorded double-digit saves five times last year, and that included a personal best of 19 in the opener vs. Harvard. Also of note, Clancy ranked second on the team in ground balls with 30.

Second Generation Wildcat

Freshman Haley Bridgeman is the daughter of alumna Sandy (Vander-Heyden) Bridgeman '87, a two-sport letterwinner (field hockey & lax) and 13-year head coach of the UNH women's lacrosse program (1997-2009).

Scouting Harvard

Harvard finished the season 8-8 overall and 4-3 in the Ivy League.
The Crimson reached the Ivy League tournament for the sixth straight season and lost to nationally-ranked Cornell in the semifinals, 16-11.
Harvard was picked fourth in the 2018 Ivy League presesaon poll.
All-Ivy Honorable Mention senior midfielder Julia Glynn and junior midfielder Keeley MacAfee headline Harvard's returners.
The graduation of six seniors from the team leaves room for the incoming eight freshmen.
Three of the top five scorers for Harvard graduated, including, First Team All-Ivy honorees attacker Marisa Romeo and defender Marina Burke.
Romeo finished first on the team in points (75), goals (50) and assists (25).
Returning junior Keeley MacAfee finished second on the team in points (46), goals (37) and assists (9), finishing behind Romeo in each category.
Seniors Meredith Brown and Olivia Gundrum return in goal. Brown started 15 of 16 games and had a 7-7 record with a 12.01 GAA and .375 save percentage. Gundrum appeared in eight games and went 1-1 with a 11.94 GAA and .434 save percentage.
Julia Glynn, Eliza Guild and Robyn White have been selected to lead the team as captains for the 2018 season.

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Players Mentioned

Tatum Benesh

Elizabeth Blanding

Haley Bridgeman

Elise Chandler

Kate Clancy

Sabrina Grovom

Marissa Gurello

Hope Kissick

Jessica Lee

Gabby Masseur

Maddie Maurer

Devan Miller

Julia Neyland

Teagan Northrup

Krissy Schafer

Cat Sennott

Rebecca Sennott

Lizzie Suschana

Anna Vogt

Carly Wooters