Key Conference Matchup vs. UMBC on Saturday (10 AM)

Saturday, April 13

10 AM

University of New Hampshire

University of Maryland Baltimore County

Photo by: Meghan Murphy

4/12/2019 9:23:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

AE.tv Live Stats

Wildcats and Retrievers Are Tied For Second in America East Standings

2019 UNH Women's Lacrosse
UMBC (5-9, 3-1 America East) at New Hampshire (8-5, 3-1 America East)
Saturday, April 13 • Wildcat Stadium • Durham, N.H. • 10 a.m.
Video • Live Stats

The Matchup vs. UMBC

UNH has a 13-4 lifetime record against UMBC. Last year at UMBC Stadium, the Wildcats erased an early 4-1 deficit to take an 8-7 lead, then outscored the Retrievers 3-0 in the final five minutes to record an 11-9 victory. (April 11, 2018) • Recap • Box
Elizabeth Blanding scored a career-high four goals, including the last two of the game (with 3:20 and then 56 seconds remaining), to fuel the 'Cat attack.
Prior to last year, UMBC had won three straight vs. New Hampshire.
The last time these teams met in Durham (April 7, 2017), UMBC extended a 7-6 halftime lead to 14-8 en route to a 15-10 win a Wildcat Stadium. • Recap • Box Score
These teams have met annually since UMBC became an America East conference member in the 2003-04 academic year.

The State of New Hampshire

UNH, led by seventh-year head coach Sarah Albrecht, has an 8-5 overall record that includes 3-1 in America East and 3-2 at home (2-0 in conference home games).
The Wildcats have lost two straight games – by a combined three goals. New Hampshire was upended 12-10 by Boston University this past Tuesday; last Saturday, UAlbany scored with 15 seconds left for a 12-11 win vs. the 'Cats.
Prior to those two games, the Wildcats had a four-game winning streak spanning March 17 to April 3.
New Hampshire also had a three-game win streak from Feb. 22 to March 1.
UNH is averaging 12.31 goals per game on a .410 shooting percentage; opponents are at 10.23 gpg with a .407 shooting percentage.
Six Wildcats have started all 13 games.
New Hampshire's 25-player roster is comprised of two grad students, four seniors, four juniors, five sophomores and 10 freshmen.
Senior defender Elise Chandler is the lone captain of the 2019 squad.

Close Calls

New Hampshire has a 3-3 record in games decided by three goals or less: 1-1 in one-goal games; 1-1 in two-goal games; and 1-1 in three-goal games.
Three of the past five games have been decided by a one- or two-goal differential.

Countdown to 50

Devan Miller is UNH's active career goal scorer with 49.
Catherine Sexton enters Saturday's game with 48 career goals.

Playoff Implications

UNH and UMBC enter the weekend tied for third place in the America East conference standings at 3-1. Stony Brook and UAlbany are tied at the top, both at 4-0.
The winner of Saturday's battle at Wildcat Stadium will stay in the upper half of the standings and be in excellent position for a top-three seed.
The other team will have two conference losses to slip toward the middle of the pack and have an uphill climb to earn a top-three seeding.

In the Clear

New Hampshire has been highly effective on clear attempts. The Wildcats enter the weekend ranked No. 10 in the nation (90.0%; 215 of 239). Opponents have been less effective at 80.6 percent (199 of 247).
UNH has had just one failed clear attempt six of the past nine games.
This past Tuesday, however, the 'Cats were 21 of 24 (87.5%); it was just the fourth time in 13 games UNH had 3+ failed clears.
UNH was a perfect 21-for-21 on clear attempts at Sacred Heart (Feb. 22).

Streaking

Rylee Leonard has a 12-game point streak; she did not tally a point in the season opener but recorded a point every game since then.
Leonard's six-game assist streak – the longest by a Wildcat this season – ended Tuesday vs. Boston U.; her streak of 11 consecutive games with multiple points also ended against the Terriers.
Mickenzie Larivee has a goal – and therefore point – each of the last six games with 10 goals and three assists for 13 points in that span.
Devan Miller has a three-game goal and point streak (6g); she opened the year with a goal in nine consecutive games.
Teagan Northrup has also scored a goal each of the past three games; she had an eight-game point streak spanning Feb. 22 to March 23, and that included a five-game goal streak from March 3-23.
Catherine Sexton's 12-game goal streak was halted Tuesday vs. Boston U.

Last Time Out: Boston U. 12, UNH 10 (Tuesday, April 9) • Recap • Box

Boston University scored the only goal the last five minutes of the game to fend off UNH for a 12-10 victory in rain and snow at Wildcat Stadium.
Trailing 10-7, the Wildcats went on a 3-1 run to close within 11-10 at 5:56.
New Hampshire surged out to a 4-1 lead, then fell behind 6-4 before knotting the score at 6-6 and 7-7.
BU tallied a 19-5 edge in draw controls, including 11-1 in the second half.
Mickenzie Larivee, a three-year Terrier before coming to UNH, scored a game-high three goals.
Caroline Hernon recorded a game-high five ground balls and career-high five caused turnovers.

Senior Scoring

Senior attacker Catherine Sexton has scored a goal in 12 of 13 games with 10 multiple-point efforts, including seven with multiple goals.
She was held out of the scoring column for the first time this season in Tuesday's game against Boston U.
Sexton ranks second on the squad in both points (38) and assists (14); she is also tied for second in goals (24) and ranks fourth in shots (37).
Sexton has scored 24 goals on 37 shots for a team-high .649 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.

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.
Leonard leads the team in both points (39) and assists (15), and is tied for second in goals with 24.
Leonard also ranks second in shots (60), third in draw controls (15) and fourth in ground balls (17).
Leonard has an 11-game goal-scoring streak.
Leonard recorded a career-high five points (2g, 3a) vs. Iona on March 17.
Leonard established a personal best of three assists at UConn (Feb. 24) and matched that at Iona.
Leonard matched her career high of four goals at Kennesaw State (March 10) as part of a stretch of seven consecutive games with multiple goals (March 1-30).
Miller leads all Wildcats with 29 goals and she ranks third in points (34) as well as tied for fourth in assists (five); she has a team-high 66 shots.
She enters Saturday's game on a three-game goal streak and has scored a goal in 12 of 13 games with nine multiple-goal efforts.
Miller has scored a career-high four goals three times this season, most recently at UMass Lowell (April 3).
She began the season with a goal and point in nine straight games, including seven consecutive games with multiple goals spanning Feb. 22 to March 17.
Miller tallied a personal-best five points (4g, 1a) at Kennesaw State.

Quadruple-Double

Rylee Leonard is the only Wildcat who has recorded double digits in goals (24), assists (15), ground balls (17) and draw controls (15).

Triple-Double

Junior midfielder Caroline Hernon is the only Wildcat who has recorded double digits in ground balls (30), draw controls (41) and caused turnovers (16) – and she leads the team in all three stats.

Immediate Impact

Senior attacker Mickenzie Larivee, a transfer from Boston University, has made an impact on the 'Cat attack.
Larivee ranks fourth in both goals (21) and points (26). She has multiple points in 7 of 13 games with four multiple-goal efforts.
Larivee matched her season high of five points with three goals and season-high two assists at UMass Lowell (April 3).
She recorded a point each of her first five games as a Wildcat and has a current six-game point streak.
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.
She scored a season-high five goals – all in the second half – at Sacred Heart.

Getting Possession

Possession begins with the draw control and Caroline Hernon is UNH's leader in that stat with 41. Hernon also gains possession for the 'Cats via ground balls (team-high 30) and caused turnovers (16, also a team high).
Freshman Delaney Pratt, who is often in the center circle, ranks second with 40 draw controls.
Senior captain Elise Chandler ranks second on the squad in both caused turnovers (15) and ground balls (24).
Freshman defender Meghan Doyle, who has been a DNP the past two games, ranks third in both ground balls (23) and caused turnovers (11).

Defensive Spotlight

Senior captain Elise Chandler has produced solid numbers as she ranks second in both caused turnovers (15) and ground balls (24).
She finished with a career-high four caused turnovers and matched her personal best of four ground balls vs. Iona (March 17).
Chandler recorded three caused turnovers in the opener vs. Harvard and matched that at Vanderbilt.
She established a career-high four ground balls at UConn (Feb. 24).
Chandler has at least one GB in 11 of 13 games with seven multiple-GB efforts. She has a caused turnover in 7 of 13 games.
Senior Jessica Lee made her season debut March 1 at Central Connecticut State. In 10 games (all starts), she has 15 ground balls and seven caused turnovers.
Lee recorded a career-high five ground balls at CCSU; she's collected at least one GB in 8 of 10 games, including five games with multiple GBs.
Freshman Taylor Dudek came off the bench in the opener but started both games the weekend of Feb. 22-24; Dudek has also started each of the past five games.
Dudek recorded career highs in both ground balls (five) and caused turnovers (four) against Hartford on March 30. Two of her CTOs and GBs directly led to UNH goals.
In 12 games (seven starts), she has 13 ground balls and nine caused turnovers.
Freshman Meghan Doyle has been consistent despite her youth with multiple ground balls in 8 of 9 games and a caused turnover in 8 of 9. She was a DNP at UMass Lowell this past Wednesday.
Doyle is tied for second in caused turnovers (11) and is third in ground balls (22).
She recorded four GBs and one CTO in her collegiate debut vs. Harvard. Doyle has corralled three ground balls three times and has tallied a high of two caused turnovers three times, most recently vs. Iona.

Last Line of Defense

Freshman goalie Issy Torres has started all 13 games and played 723:34 of a possible 780 minutes (92.8%). She has an 8-5 record with a 10.45 GAA and .452 save percentage.
This past Tuesday against Boson University, she made 12 saves to mark her fourth game of the year she finished with double-digit saves.
Torres' numbers steadily improved during the recent four-game win streak (March 17-April 3). She entered the win streak with a 12.21 GAA and .422 save percentage, and those numbers improved to 10.14 and .460, respectively.
Torres tallied a career-high four ground balls at UAlbany last Saturday. She's been credited with one caused turnover (April 3 at UMass Lowell).
She made 10 saves in the 15-8 win vs. Iona on March 17.
Torres made a career-high 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).

Nothing's Free

New Hampshire has scored on 26 of 70 free-position shots (37.1%); in comparison, the opponents are 29-for-67 (43.3%).
This past Tuesday, UNH scored on 2 of 3 free-position shots while Boston U. was 2-for-4.
UNH converted 1 of 9 free-position shots into a goal (11.1%) at UMass Lowell (April 3). The River Hawks were 1-for-2.
UNH has scored multiple free-position goals six times, including a high of five (twice: at Sacred Heart; at Central Connecticut State) and most recently vs. Boston U. (2-for-3) on April 9.

The Last Time…

New Hampshire started a season with eight (or more) wins through 11 games was 2008, when the 'Cats were 9-2; this year's mark was 8-3.
UNH had multiple win streaks of 3+ games in the same season was 2010; that team also had a four-game and three-game win streak.
The Wildcats won four consecutive games was in 2010 (spanned Feb. 24 to March 6).

Inside the Four-Game Win Streak

UNH averaged 13.50 goals while yielding an average of 7.00 goals during the recent four-game win streak (March 17-April 3).
New Hampshire outscored the opposition 30-14 in the first half.
The Wildcats scored 54 goals on 136 shots for a .397 shooting percentage in comparison to the opponent's .329 shooting percentage (28 goals / 85 shots).
In other stats, UNH tallied the edge in ground balls (22.3 to 13.8 per game) and draw controls (13.3 to 9.3 per game).
The 'Cats excelled on clear attempts with a 91.8 percent success rate (67 of 73); that was in contrast to the opposition's 75.6 percent (59-for-78).
Issy Torres stopped 33 of 61 shots on goal for a .541 save percentage.

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).

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 UMBC

UMBC (Baltimore, Md.) enters Saturday's game at UNH with a 5-9 overall record, which includes 4-3 on the road and 3-1 in America East (2-0 in conference road games).
The Retrievers are coming off last Saturday's 16-1 win at Hartford. UMBC came out strong and held a 3-0 lead 10 minutes into the game en route to a 12-0 halftime lead. Hartford scored with 3:14 remaining to avoid the shutout.
UMBC is 2-0 in April and has won three straight – all in conference play. The Retrievers' only America East loss was to Stony Brook, 16-5, in mid-March.
The Retrievers average 8.79 goals per game on a .362 shot percentage, with their opponents averaging 11.25 goals per game with a .395 shot percentage.
Payton Van Kirk is the team leader in both points (33) and assists (15), and is tied for second in goals (18). She also ranks third in shots (49).
Zoe Pekins leads the team in goals (19) and shots (60), and is second in points (23).
Lauren McDonald is tied for second in goals (18) and has 20 points. She is also second in draw controls (35).
Brittany Levine leads the team in draw controls (39) and places in third in ground balls (28).
Carly Tolino has started all 14 games in goal and played 751 of a possible 855 minutes. She has a 5-8 record with an 11.75 GAA and .479 save percentage.
Tolino leads in ground balls (40), followed by Jenna Baverman with 29.