'Cats Welcome Fairfield to Wildcat Stadium (March 1; 12 PM)

2020 UNH Women's Lacrosse
Fairfield (1-4) at New Hampshire (1-2)
Wildcat Stadium * Durham, N.H.
Sunday, March 1 • 12 p.m.
Video • Live Stats

The Matchup

New Hampshire has a 5-7 lifetime record against Fairfield. The Stags have won four straight and 7 of 8 vs. the Wildcats, and that includes last year's 14-11 win at Rafferty Stadium. • Recap • Box
In the most recent meeting in Durham (at Bremner Field), the score was tied 9-9 midway through the second half but Fairfield closed the game on a 6-0 run to pull away for a 15-9 victory. • Recap • Box
UNH's most recent win in the series was March 6, 2015 (9-7).
These programs have met annually since 2010. They also played in '04 and '05.

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.
The Wildcats are 1-2 overall that includes 1-1 at home; both of those games were played at Tucker Field.
UNH is averaging 10.33 goals and 28.3 shots per game, while the opponents average 13.00 goals and 27.3 shots.
The 'Cats have scored eight goals each of the past two games after tallying 15 goals in the season opener.
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).

The Leaderboard

Julia Neyland (7g, 2a) and Emily Curtis (8g) rank 1-2 in points.
Neyland, Elizabeth Blanding and Katie Taranto are tied atop the assist leaderboard with two apiece.
Meghan Doyle and Taylor Dudek are tied for the team lead with nine ground balls. Caroline Hernon is next with eight.
Hernon is also atop the list of caused turnovers with eight. Michele Smith is next at four.
Neyland and Hernon rank 1-2 in draw controls with 10 and seven, respectively.

Defending the Cage

Senior goalie Amanda Gottlieb made her first collegiate start last Sunday vs. UConn. She finished with three saves and six goals allowed in 18 minutes, 30 seconds.
In three games this season, Gottlieb has a 1-2 record with a 10.77 GAA and .478 save percentage in 66 minutes, 51 seconds.
Sophomore goalie Issy Torres, who started all 17 games last year and the first two games of 2020, has a 14.32 GAA and .341 save percentage in 113:09; she's played all three games this season but has not factored into a decision.

Consistent Offense

Four Wildcats carry a three-game point streak into Sunday's game.
Julia Neyland has three multiple-point games, including a pair of multiple-goal efforts, with totals of seven goals and two assists for nine points. She recorded five points (4g, 1a) in the season opener vs. Merrimack. And has scored a goal all three games.
Emily Curtis has scored multiple goals in 2 of 3 games to account for her pair of multipoint efforts. She tallied a career-high five goals for a personal best of five points against Merrimack. Curtis has also scored a goal all three games.
Elizabeth Blanding has two multiple point efforts and a three-game goal streak with totals of four goals and two assists for six points.
Katie Taranto tallied an assist each of the first two games and extended her point streak to three games with a pair of goals – her first career goals – vs. UConn.

Free & Clear

New Hampshire has been strong on clear attempts this year with 42 successful clears on 53 attempts for a .792 percentage.
The opposition is 40-for-57 on clear attempts for a .702 percentage.
The opponents have the edge on free positions, however. They have scored 12 goals on 23 free-position shots (52.2%) in comparison to UNH's 4-for-19 (21.1%).

Getting Possession

Opponents have recorded the advantage in draw controls all three games: 14-12 by Merrimack; 11-7 by Iona; and 17-13 by UConn.
The team with the edge in ground balls has won all three games: 21-17 by UNH vs. Merrimack; 19-18 by Iona; and 23-14 by UConn.

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.

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).

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.

Scouting Fairfield | Fairfield home page

Fairfield University (Fairfield, Conn.) has a 1-4 overall record that includes 0-2 on the road.
The Stags opened the season with back-to-back losses to Holy Cross (10-8) and at UConn (19-12), then defeated Columbia, 13-6, on Feb. 19. Since then, they have lost at Hofstra (17-13) and to Boston University (14-12).
Fairfield is averaging 11.60 goals and 28.4 shots per game while allowing 13.20 goals and 31.6 shots.
Kelly Horning (14g, 3a), Diana DeVita (7g, 9a), Monika Sivilli (11g, 2a) and Jillian Winwood (6g, 5a) have recorded double digits in points.
Cameryn Dera and Meaghan Graham are tied for third in goals with seven.
Horning also leads the team in both ground balls (17) and caused turnovers (13).
Maggie Fort has a team-high 10 draw controls; she ranks second in caused turnovers (eight) and third in ground balls (11).
Olivia Conquest has started all five games and played 288 of 300 minutes. She has a 1-4 record with a 13.33 GAA and .488 save percentage.

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Players Mentioned

Elizabeth Blanding

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

Catherine Sexton

Michele Smith

Katie Taranto

Issy Torres