'Cats Begin Three-Game Homestand vs. Iona (March 17; 12 pm)

2019 UNH Women's Lacrosse
Iona (1-7) at New Hampshire (4-3)
Sunday, March 17 • Wildcat Stadium • Durham, N.H. • 12 p.m.
Video • Live Stats

The Matchup vs. Iona

UNH has won both previous matchups against Iona. In the most recent meeting, the Wildcats were 12-3 road victors March 10, 2014. • Recap • Box
New Hampshire won the first meeting against Iona College with a 16-0 victory at Memorial Field on March 27, 2013; that game marked the eighth shutout in program history and first since April 2002. Box

The State of New Hampshire

UNH, led by seventh-year head coach Sarah Albrecht, has a 4-3 overall record that includes 0-1 at home. The last time New Hampshire played at Wildcat Stadium was the Feb. 16 season opener vs. Harvard.
The Wildcats ended a stretch of six consecutive road games with Wednesday's 19-7 loss at Vanderbilt.
Last Sunday, the 'Cats recorded a 16-13 victory at Kennesaw State.
New Hampshire had a three-game win streak spanning Feb. 22 to March 1.
UNH is averaging 12.14 goals per game on a .409 shooting percentage; opponents are at 11.57 gpg with a .435 shooting percentage.
Eight Wildcats have started all seven games.
Two 'Cats have scored a goal every game; they are Devan Miller and Catherine Sexton. They are also the two Wildcats with a point every game.
New Hampshire's 26-player roster is comprised of three grad students, four seniors, four juniors, five sophomores and 10 freshmen.
Senior defender Elise Chandler is the lone captain of the 2019 squad.

Road Warriors

New Hampshire played six straight games on the road spanning Feb. 22 to March 13 and went 4-2.
It was the program's longest streak of consecutive road games since the 1996 team began the year with seven games on the road (1-6 record).
The 'Cats also played six consecutive road games in 1994.
The last time UNH played more than three consecutive road games was in the 2013 season (four games spanning Feb. 28 to march 16).

Streaking

Devan Miller has a seven-game goal and point streak, and six consecutive games with multiple goals.
Catherine Sexton has a seven-game goal and point streak; her four-game assist streak ended Wednesday at Vanderbilt.
Rylee Leonard has a six-game goal and point streak, including four straight games with multiple goals.
Teagan Northrup has a six-game point streak and a three-game goal streak.

No Longer Streaking

Three Wildcats saw significant point streaks end Wednesday in Nashville.
Michele Smith had a five-game point streak and three-game assist streak.
Abby Cranney had a five-game goal and point streak.
Caroline Hernon had a four-game point streak.

Last Time Out: March 13 at Vanderbilt

After falling behind 1-0, Vanderbilt scored three goals in 32 seconds to ignite a 6-0 run that led to a 12-4 halftime lead and 19-7 victory Wednesday at the VU Lacrosse Complex. • Recap • Box

UNH trimmed the deficit to 6-3, but the Commodores responded with a goal 20 seconds later to kickstart a 5-0 spurt.
Rylee Leonard (2g, 1a) and Devan Miller (2g) led the 'Cat attack.
Elise Chandler finished with three caused turnovers, three ground balls and one draw control.
Caroline Hernon tallied three draw controls, two ground balls and one caused turnover.
Julia Neyland recorded her first point of the season with an assist.
Most of the overall stats were relatively even. Vanderbilt finished with a 26-25 edge in shots, including 24-22 on goal. VU also had the advantage in ground balls (24-20) and draw controls (15-12).
UNH committed one less turnover (19-20).
One glaring difference in the stats: VU's three goalies combined for 15 saves, whereas UNH's goalie made five saves.

Back With a Vengeance

Both senior Devan Miller and junior Rylee Leonard were sidelined by injury in 2018 and both have been significant point producers this season.
Miller leads the team in goals (17), ranks second in points (22), and is fourth in assists (five).
Miller recorded three points each of the first five games of the season before increasing that total to a career-high five points at Kennesaw State; her four goals also marked a personal best.
Miller has scored multiple goals each of the past six games.
Miller has a team-high 36 shots.
Leonard ranks third in both goals (15) and points (21), as well as second in assists (six) and shots (34).
Leonard has a six-game goal scoring streak with four straight multiple-goal games, including a career-high four last Sunday at Kennesaw State.
Leonard has matched her career high of four points four times this season.
Leonard tallied a personal best of three assists at UConn (Feb. 24).

Senior Scoring

Senior attacker Catherine Sexton is UNH's leader in both assists (eight) and points (24); she ranks second in goals (16).
Sexton has scored 16 goals on 21 shots for a team-high .762 shooting percentage.
Sexton tallied five goals and two assists at Central Connecticut State (March 1) to finish with career highs in both goals and points (seven).
She tallied two assists in three consecutive games spanning Feb. 23–March 3.
Sexton has recorded multiple points 6 of 7 games with four multiple-goal efforts.

Immediate Impact

Senior attacker Mickenzie Larivee, a transfer from Boston University, has made an immediate impact on the 'Cat attack.
Larivee ranks fourth in both goals (11) and points (13). She has multiple points in 4 of 7 games with two multiple-goal efforts, but has been held without a point the past two games.
Larivee recorded a point each of her first five games as a Wildcat.
Larivee netted her 100^th career goal – 11^th as a Wildcat – March 3 at Fairfield.
Larivee scored three goals in her UNH debut vs. Harvard on Feb. 16. She reached the career 100-point milestone with the last of those three tallies.
Larivee fueled UNH's second-half surge at Sacred Heart with five goals.

Getting Possession

Freshman defender Meghan Doyle leads the 'Cats in ground balls (19) and is tied for second in caused turnovers (eight).
Senior captain Elise Chandler has a team-high 10 caused turnovers and ranks second in ground balls (14).
Sophomore Caroline Hernon is atop UNH's leaderboard in draw controls (24); she is also tied for second in caused turnovers and ranks third in ground balls (13).
Freshman Delaney Pratt is second in draw controls with 21.

Defensive Spotlight

Freshman Meghan Doyle has been consistent despite her youth with multiple ground balls every game and a caused turnover in 6 of 7. She recorded four GBs and one CTO in her collegiate debut vs. Harvard. Doyle followed that with three GBs and two CTOs at Sacred Heart, then two GBs and a CTO at UConn.
Senior captain Elise Chandler has produced solid numbers early in the season. She recorded a personal-best three caused turnovers in the opener vs. Harvard and matched that Wednesday at Vanderbilt. Chandler had a career-high four ground balls at UConn.
Chandler has at least one GB every game with four multiple-GB efforts. She has a caused turnover in 5 of 7 games.
Senior Jessica Lee made her season debut March 1 at Central Connecticut State. In four games, she has eight ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Freshman Abby Cranney had a breakout weekend Feb. 22 & 24. She recorded three ground balls both games against Sacred Heart and UConn. She also had four draw controls, one caused turnover and a goal at SHU. In seven games (two starts), Cranney has eight ground balls, nine draw controls and two caused turnovers.
Taylor Dudek, yet another freshman, came off the bench in the opener but started both games the weekend of Feb. 22-24. She tallied two ground balls and a caused turnover at Sacred Heart, then one of each at UConn. This past Wednesday at Vandy, Dudek finished with two GB and two CTO. In six games (two starts), she has six ground balls and five caused turnovers.

Last Line of Defense

Freshman goalie Issy Torres has started all seven games and played 363:34 of a possible 420 minutes. She has a 4-3 record with a 12.21 GAA and .422 save percentage.
Torres made 14 saves in her collegiate debut vs. Harvard. She also finished with double-digit saves (13) in the 13-12 win at UConn, and that included one with 66 seconds remaining to preserve the one-goal lead.
Torres stopped 7 of 10 shots on goal in 37:27 of action at Central Connecticut State (March 1).
Junior goalkeeper Amanda Gottlieb has played 56 minutes, 26 seconds in three games. She has a 7.44 GAA and .364 save percentage. She saw action in the first two games of March (March 1 at CCSU; March 3 at Fairfield).

Free & Clear

New Hampshire has scored on 18 of 39 free-position shots (46.2%); in comparison, the opponents are 20-for-46 (43.5%).
There were only a total of three free-position shots Wednesday, and neither team scored as the Wildcats were 0-for-2 and Vandy was 0-for-1.
Last Sunday, UNH was 4-for-7 on free positions and Kennesaw State netted six goals on 11 free-position shots.
In the first weekend of March, the 'Cats got the better of CCSU (5-for 9 in comparison to 0-for-5). But Fairfield was a perfect 5-for-5 in comparison to UNH's 1 of 5.
UNH has been highly effective on clear attempts. The Wildcats entered the week ranked No. 10 in the nation (89.1%; 98 of 110) and increased that mark to 89.6 percent following Wednesday's 14 of 15 effort (93.3%) at Vanderbilt. Opponents have been slightly less effective at 80.1 percent (109 of 136).

Torres Tabbed America East Rookie of the Week

Freshman goalkeeper Issy Torres was honored as America East Rookie of the Week on Feb. 25.
Torres stopped 17 of 33 shots on goal in two road games to record two wins, an 8.87 GAA and .515 save percentage.
She also corralled three ground balls in both games against Sacred Heart University and UConn.
Torres stopped 4 of 8 shots on goal at Sacred Heart to earn her first collegiate win. She exited the game with New Hampshire holding a 12-4 lead at 11:49 of the second half.
Torres made 13 saves, including one with 66 seconds remaining, to backbone UNH to a 13-12 victory at UConn that marked the Wildcats' first win vs. the Huskies since 2014.

Made of Granite

There are five Granite State natives on New Hampshire's roster, and that includes three Wildcats from Amherst: freshmen Taylor Dudek and Abby Cranney, and senior Mickenzie Larivee.
Junior Caroline Hernon calls Hampton home.
Sophomore Gabby Masseur hails from Nashua.

At the Polls

UNH was selected fourth in the 2019 America East Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll with 32 points, just behind Binghamton University at 33.
Stony Brook received 49 points and all seven possible first-place votes; UAlbany tallied 41 points and the other first-place vote.
UNH was followed by UMBC (28 points), Vermont (20), UMass Lowell (14) and Hartford (7).

Scouting Iona

Iona College (New Rochelle, N.Y.) enters Sunday's game against UNH with a 1-7 overall record that includes 1-4 on the road.
The Gaels are coming off Wednesday's 8-7 overtime win at Sacred Heart. Iona trailed 6-4 early in the second half but scored three consecutive goals to take a 7-6 lead at 6:36. SHU tied the score with 4:13 to play and neither team broke the deadlock in regulation. Iona won the opening draw control in overtime and Katherine Meyer scored 43 seconds into the extra session to end the game. * Box
Iona has played one other America East school, and that resulted in a 15-8 loss at UMass Lowell on March 2.
The Gaels are averaging 6.62 goals per game on a .305 shooting percentage, while the opponents average 13.75 goals with a .415 shooting percentage.
Iona has scored a season high of eight goals three times.
Leah Marshall leads the team in both goals (11) and points (13), as well as shots (26).
Christine Gironda ranks second in both assists (six) and points (11).
Kati Paavola ranks second in goals and is tied for third in points (eight).
Megan Collins has a team-high seven assists and is tied for third in points.
The aforementioned Meyer also has eight points (6g, 2a).
Shannon McCaffrey has played all eight games with seven starts. She has a 1-6 record with a 14.46 GAA and .447 save percentage.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Elise Chandler

Abby Cranney

Meghan Doyle

Taylor Dudek

Amanda Gottlieb

Caroline Hernon

Mickenzie Larivee

Jessica Lee

Rylee Leonard

Gabby Masseur

Devan Miller

Julia Neyland

Teagan Northrup

Delaney Pratt

Catherine Sexton

Michele Smith

Issy Torres

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

University of New Hampshire Athletics