First Road Trip Lands 'Cats at Iona on Feb. 16 (12 PM)

2020 UNH Women's Lacrosse
New Hampshire (1-0) at Iona (0-1)
Sunday, February 16 • Mazzella Field (New Rochelle, N.Y.) • 12 p.m.

The Matchup

UNH has won all three previous meetings against Iona College.
Last year at Wildcat Stadium, the visitors scored the first two goals of the game but the 'Cats took a 5-4 lead into halftime and opened the second half on a 4-0 run en route to a 15-8 victory. New Hampshire recorded the edge in shots (33-27), ground balls (19-15), draw controls (15-10) and turnovers (14-16) • Recap • Box
The Wildcats were 12-3 road victors March 10, 2014. • Recap • Box
New Hampshire won the first meeting against Iona 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 Women's Lax Home Page

UNH is led by eighth-year head coach Sarah Albrecht, who was named 2019 America East Coach of the Year.
New Hampshire has 24 student-athletes on the 2020 roster with a breakdown of 18 returning letterwinners (seven starters), one transfer and five freshmen.
Senior midfielders Rylee Leonard and Michele Smith captain this year's squad. Leonard led last year's team in both assists (22) and points (55); she ranked third – is the top returner – in goals with 33; she also tied for third in draw controls and tallied double digits in ground balls. Smith started all 14 games in which she played and tallied 14 points (6g, 8a).
Leonard and Caroline Hernon were America East All-Conference Second Team selections in 2019. Hernon was the top 'Cat in ground balls, draw controls and caused turnovers; she also contributed 13 points (9g, 4a).
UNH returns two other double-digit point producers in juniors Elizabeth Blanding (13-7-20) and Julia Neyland (10-6-16).
Sophomores Taylor Dudek and Meghan Doyle anchor a young defensive unit.
- Dudek started 11 games, ranked third on the team in caused turnovers and fourth in ground balls, and earned a spot on the 2019 America East All-Rookie Team.
- Doyle started nine games, ranked third in ground balls and fourth in caused turnovers.
Issy Torres started all 17 games in goals and recorded 10 wins en route to being named to the conference's All-Rookie Team last year. She became the first Wildcat goalie to receive that honor since 2010 and the first to reach 10 wins since '10. She ranked third in America East with an 11.64 GAA and that number improved to 10.43 in seven conference games.

A Lot to Lose

UNH lost four of its top five point producers to graduation. The quartet of Catherine Sexton (28-20-48), Devan Miller (40-7-47), Mickenzie Larivee (35-7-42) and Teagan Northrup (13-8-21) combined for 116 goals, 42 assists and 158 points.
To put that in perspective, the team totals were 216-92-308.

What's New

New Hampshire has a new home in 2020 with the completion of Tucker Field, a facility adjacent to Wildcat Stadium dedicated for women's lacrosse and both soccer teams.
There are six new 'Cats, including one transfer, on this year's roster.

Strong Second Half Sends 'Cats Past Warriors

New Hampshire scored the first two goals of the second half to break a 5-5 halftime tie and ignite a 5-1 run that led the Wildcats to a 15-9 victory against Merrimack College on Feb. 12. ) • Recap • Box

The 'Cats faced three two-goal deficits (2-0, 3-1, 4-2) before scoring three consecutive goals in a span of 82 seconds to take a 5-4 lead at 5:25.
It marked the first ever game at Tucker Field as well as the first ever meeting between the UNH and MC lacrosse programs.

Career Firsts

Senior goalkeeper Amanda Gottlieb recorded her first career win in the season opener against Merrimack. She entered the game at the start of the second half with the score tied 5-5 and stopped 6 of 10 shots on goal as UNH outscored the Warriors 10-4 in the last 30 minutes to record a 15-9 win.
Sophomore midfielder Emily Curtis scored her first career goal (and point) at 17:35 of the first half. She went on to score a team-high five goals for five points.
Two freshmen – midfielders Jessie Hounchell and Ava Schroeder – started in their collegiate debuts. Schroeder recorded a team-high four draw controls and also had one ground ball. Hounchell did not tally any stats.
Sophomore attacker Riley Burns started in her Wildcat debut and scored a highlight-reel behind the back goal on her only shot of the game.
Freshman attacker Katie Taranto came off the bench and tallied her first collegiate point with an assist.
Sophomore midfielder Adena Rothbard made her first collegiate start (fourth career game).

Notable Numbers

Junior midfielder Julia Neyland matched her career high of five points with four goals and an assist vs. Merrimack.
Sophomore attacker Lily Powell matched her personal best of two goals.
Senior midfielder Caroline Hernon finished with three caused turnovers, two draw controls and a ground ball.
Sophomore goalkeeper Issy Torres made her 18^th consecutive start. She exited the game at halftime with three saves and the score tied at 5.
Five Wildcats finished with a team-high three ground balls; They were Powell, Elizabeth Blanding, Meghan Doyle, Taylor Dudek and Michele Smith.
Neither UNH nor Merrimack scored a player-up goal but both teams netted a player-down goal. The Wildcats were whistled for four yellow cards and one green card; MC had two yellows.

Made of Granite

There are five Granite State natives on New Hampshire's roster, and that includes two Wildcats from Amherst: sophomores Taylor Dudek and Abby Cranney.
Senior Caroline Hernon calls Hampton home.
Junior Gabby Masseur hails from Nashua.
Freshman Jessie Hounchell is from Manchester.

Season Openers

UNH has a 26-18 all-time record in season openers, including this past Tuesday's 15-9 home win against Merrimack.

At the Polls

UNH was selected third in the 2020 America East Coaches' Preseason Poll. The Wildcats received 35 points to place behind Stony Brook (49) and UAlbany (41). New Hampshire was followed by UMBC (28), Vermont (26), Binghamton (19), UMass Lowell (18) and Hartford (7).

Scouting Iona | IC home page

Iona College (New Rochelle, N.Y.) has an 0-1 record following a 16-5 season-opening loss at Lehigh on Feb. 7.
Lehigh scored the first three goals of the game en route to building an 8-3 halftime lead. The Mountain Hawks netted the first five goals of the second half to build a double-digit advantage.
Iona was voted ninth (of nine teams) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. The Gaels went 1-16 overall and 0-8 in the conference a year ago.
Caton Brisbin (3g), Sara Stewart (2g) and Madi Kochanek (2a) accounted for all the Gaels' points in the season opener. Brisbin also had a team-high three draw controls.
Senior goalkeeper Samantha Tyo was credited with 13 saves (.448 save percentage). Last year, Tyo played just 25 minutes, 14 seconds in three games (one start).
Leah Marshall led last year's squad in goals (24) and points (28). Kochanek ranked third in goals (16) and points (23).

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Players Mentioned

Elizabeth Blanding

Riley Burns

Abby Cranney

Emily Curtis

Meghan Doyle

Taylor Dudek

Amanda Gottlieb

Caroline Hernon

Jesslyn Hounchell

Mickenzie Larivee

Rylee Leonard

Gabby Masseur

Devan Miller

Julia Neyland

Teagan Northrup

Lily Powell

Adena Rothbard

Ava Schroeder

Catherine Sexton

Michele Smith

Katie Taranto

Issy Torres