Key Conference Matchup March 20 vs. UMBC (AE.tv)

UMBC (2-2, 1-1 America East) at New Hampshire (1-3, 0-2 America East)
Saturday, March 20 | 11 AM
Wildcat Stadium | Durham, N.H.

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UNH ATHLETICS COVID-19 SPECTATOR POLICY | CLICK HERE to read more

UNH Athletics is currently permitting a limited number of undergraduate student spectators to the March 2020-21 UNH athletics events at Wildcat Stadium.
Attendance at Wildcat Stadium is strictly limited to UNH-Durham undergraduate student spectators.
Members of the general public are not permitted to attend any UNH Athletics events for the safety of all UNH students, student-athletes, and essential staff working events.
There are no tickets available for visiting teams or families of UNH student-athletes for events at Wildcat Stadium.
Students interested in attending events at Wildcat Stadium must set up a student ticket account in order to claim an electronic ticket for a specific event and assigned seat in advance.

THE MATCHUP | CLICK HERE for series history (April 2006 – today)

UNH has a 14-4 lifetime record against UMBC and has won each of the last two meetings, including a 15-10 victory at Wildcat Stadium on April 13, 2019.
In that game, UMBC took a 3-0 lead less than 3:30 into the game but New Hampshire responded with five consecutive goals that fueled a 9-1 run to take a 9-4 lead into halftime.
The Retrievers opened the second half with a 6-0 run to surge back in front, 10-9, at 21:40. The visitors were held scoreless the rest of the way, however, as the 'Cats closed the game with six unanswered goals for the 15-10 win.
UMBC won three consecutive games spanning 2015-17 and UNH won the previous three matchups from 2012-14.
The Wildcats have a 6-4 edge the past 10 meetings; that includes 3-2 at home.
Prior to last year's COVID-abbreviated season, UNH and UMBC met annually from 2004-19. (since the Retrievers joined America East in the 2003-04 academic year)

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

UNH is led by ninth-year head coach Sarah Albrecht, who was named America East Coach of the Year in 2019, when the Wildcats finished 10-7 overall and 5-2 in America East.
New Hampshire has a 1-3 overall record that includes 1-1 in non-conference games. This past Wednesday's game at #6 Boston College was postponed (for non-COVID reasons).
The Wildcats have lost three straight – all on the road – following last Saturday's 13-4 loss at Vermont.
The Wildcats went 1-1 on opening weekend with a 20-9 win vs. Merrimack College at Wildcat Stadium (Feb. 26) and a 19-3 loss at UConn (Feb. 28).
UNH is 0-3 on the road this season and went 0-2 in 2020 away games. The Wildcats' most recent road win was April 20, 2019 (20-14 at Vermont).
Eleven Wildcats have started every game.
The 2021 Wildcats are captained by grad student Rylee Leonard and senior Tatum Benesh. Leonard was an America East All-Conference Second Team honoree in 2019 and redshirted the '20 season.
The 27-player roster has a breakdown of one grad student, five seniors, nine juniors, five sophomores and seven freshmen.
The 2020 Wildcats were 1-4 when the remainder of the season was canceled the second week of March because of COVID-19.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

UNH is averaging 9.75 goals on 27.8 shots per game in comparison to the opponents' 13.50 goals and 29.3 shots per game.
The Wildcats fire 71.2 percent of their shots on goal and score on 35.1 percent of their shots. The opponents put 76.1 percent of shots on goal and score on 46.2 percent of their total shots.
Both overall ground balls (75-74 in favor of the opponents) and turnovers (56-60 in favor of UNH) are relatively even.
Scoring percentage on free position shots is also relatively even: UNH is 7-for-15 (46.7%) in comparison to the opposition's 13 of 28 (46.4%).
The opposition is averaging 3.0 more draw controls per game (14.0 to 11.0).
New Hampshire's .857 clear percentage (60 of 70) is slightly lower than the opponents' mark of .877 (64 of 73).

TOP 'CATS

Senior Julia Neyland is UNH's leader in both goals (nine) and points (12). She also ranks second in assists (three), as well as first in shots (32) and tied for third in both caused turnovers (three) and draw controls (five).
Grad student and captain Rylee Leonard has a team-high six assists and has also scored three goals to tie for second in points with nine.
Sophomore Liv Dunn is second on the squad in goals (seven) and is tied for second in points (nine). She is also second in shots with 15 – less than half the total of Neyland's 32.
Senior Sabrina Grovom, who scored two goals each of the first three games, is third in goals (six) and fourth in points (six); she has scored six goals on seven shots.
Grovom scored a total of four goals (and six points) her first three years as a Wildcat.
Senior captain Tatum Benesh is UNH's ground balls leader with nine, and she ranks second with six caused turnovers.
Junior goalie Issy Torres also has nine ground balls.
Meghan Doyle, another junior, has a team-high seven caused turnovers and is third in ground balls with seven.
Junior Delaney Pratt is the top 'Cat with 12 draw controls.

ANOTHER GAME, ANOTHER POINT

Grad student Rylee Leonard is the only Wildcat who has recorded a point in all four games this season.
She scored one goal this past Saturday at Vermont and has tallied a point in 20 consecutive games; she redshirted last season and finished the 2019 season with a point each of the last 16 games; the last game played in which Leonard did not record a point was Feb. 16, 2019 vs. Harvard.
Leonard has tallied 36 goals and 28 assists for 64 points (3.2 points/game) during the 20-game point streak.

CONFERENCE CALL

Rylee Leonard enters the weekend ranked fourth in America East in assists per game (1.50).
Julia Neyland is tied atop the conference leaderboard in shots per game (8.00); she fired 11 shots in the March 6 overtime game at UAlbany and 10 at Vermont (March 13).
Issy Torres is No. 3 in saves per game (8.75).
There are two 'Cats in the Top 10 in caused turnovers per game; Meghan Doyle is No. 3 (1.75) and Tatum Benesh is No. 6 (1.50).

LAST LINE OF DEFENSE

Junior goalie Issy Torres has played all 242 minutes, 33 seconds this season; she has a 1-3 record with a 13.36 GAA and .393 save percentage.
Torres has double-digit saves twice this season: 11 at Vermont (March 13) and 10 at UConn (Feb. 28).
She has finished with 10+ saves eight times in 26 career games (25 starts).

COUNTDOWN TO 50

Senior Julia Neyland enters Saturday's game with 44 career goals; grad student Rylee Leonard has 42.
Senior Elizabeth Blanding has 48 career points.
Junior Meghan Doyle has 43 ground balls.

VERMONT WINS BATTLE OF THE 'CATS | Box score | Recap

The University of Vermont Catamounts outscored the UNH Wildcats 6-1 in the second half to pull away for a 13-4 win this past Saturday at Virtue Field in Burlington (Vt.).
Most of the stats were relatively even with UNH holding a 30-29 shot advantage; UVM had a 24-20 edge in shots on goal.
The Wildcats had one more draw control (10-9) and one less turnover (16-17).
UNH recorded a season-high 11 caused turnovers.
UVM finished with the 23-19 edge in ground balls.
Both teams had two failed clears; UNH was 21 of 23 and Vermont went 27-for-29.
Junior goalie Issy Torres recorded a season-high 11 saves at UVM; she also matched her career high of four ground balls.
Meghan Doyle finished with a team-high four caused turnovers and three ground balls. The four CTOs is a career high, while the three GBs is a season high.
Senior captain Tatum Benesh tallied three ground balls and three caused turnovers. The three CTOs matches a personal best and the three GBs equals her season high.

EDGED IN OT | Box score | Recap

New Hampshire erased a 7-2 first-half deficit to tie the score, 12-12, with 2:23 remaining in regulation, but UAlbany scored at 2:33 of overtime for the 13-12 victory March 6 at John Fallon Field (Albany, N.Y.).
With UNH trailing 9-5 at halftime, goals by Liv Dunn, Rylee Leonard and Sabrina Grovom lifted the Wildcats within 9-8 at 23:59.
The Great Danes scored the next two goals, but then Ava Schroeder and Elizabeth Blanding netted back-to-back goals to once again make it a one-goal game, 11-10, at 10:37.
Trailing 12-10 with five minutes left, Julia Neyland struck at 3:28 and 2:23 to complete UNH's comeback.
The Wildcats had two shots in the closing 15 seconds of regulation but could not break the tie.
New Hampshire won the opening draw of overtime and recorded one shot before committing a turnover. UAlbany's Bryar Hogg scored in the third minute of the extra session to give the Great Danes a 13-12 win.

'CAT NIPS

Senior Gabby Masseur, who redshirted the 2020 season, made her 2021 debut March 6 at UAlabany and recorded a point with an assist.
Senior Elizabeth Blanding made her first start of '21 at UAlbany and tallied one point with a goal. She has 48 career points.
Junior Abby Cranney recorded a career-high four ground balls at UAlbany.
In addition to her team-high five points (4g, 1a) against the Great Danes, senior Julia Neyland was credited with a personal-best three caused turnovers and also had three draw controls.

UNH ROLLS PAST MERRIMACK

The Wildcats scored the first seven goals of the game to build a 7-0 lead midway through the first half, led 9-4 at halftime and pulled away for a 20-9 victory in the Feb. 26^th season opener vs. Merrimack College at Wildcat Stadium.
In the second half, UNH pushed the lead to nine goals (14-5), then the Warriors went on a 3-1 spurt to close within 15-8 at 6:51. The 'Cats answered with three consecutive goals, however, to build a double-digit advantage, 18-8, with 4:33 remaining.
UNH recorded the advantage in shots (40-21), shots on goal (35-17), ground balls (22-13), draw controls (17-13) and turnovers (9-13).
Both teams excelled on clear attempts. UNH was 16 of 17 (94,1%) and MC went 13-for-14 (92.9%).
The Wildcats scored on 5 of 8 free-position shots. Merrimack went 2-for-5.

NEW HAMPSHIRE NOTABLES

The 20 goals vs. Merrimack marked UNH's highest total since April 20, 2019 (20-14 win at Vermont).
It was also the highest goal output in a season opener since March 19, 1994, when the Wildcats were 21-3 victors at St. Joseph's.
The 40 shots is the highest total since March 31, 2018, when the 'Cats tallied 44 shots in a 17-0 win at Hartford.

WILDCAT LEADERBOARD vs. MERRIMACK

Sophomore Liv Dunn led the attack with six points vs. Merrimack. Dunn, who did not record a point in her abbreviated 2020 rookie season, finished with five goals and an assist.
Senior Julia Neyland recorded three goals and two assists to match her career highs in both assists and points.
Six other Wildcats tallied multiple points, including grad student Rylee Leonard with one goal and two assists.
Junior Abby Cranney, senior Sabrina Grovom, freshman Olivia O'Connor, junior Delaney Pratt and sophomore Ava Schroeder each scored two goals.
Junior goalkeeper Issy Torres was credited with eight saves.
Pratt recorded a team-high six draw controls.
Leonard and O'Connor tied for the team lead in ground balls with three.

MADE OF GRANITE

There are six Wildcats who hail from the Granite State; they are senior midfielder Gabby Masseur (Nashua), junior midfielder Abby Cranney (Amherst), junior defender Taylor Dudek (Amherst), sophomore midfielder Jessie Hounchell (Manchester), freshman midfielder Mackenzie MacEachern (Bedford), and freshman defender Lizzy Aiello (Mont Vernon).

AT THE POLLS

UNH was selected third in the 2021 America East Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll that was released Feb. 9.
Stony Brook received all seven possible first-place votes and 49 points to sit atop the poll. UAlbany received the other first-place vote and 43 points.
UNH was next with 34 points, followed by UMBC (30), Vermont (26), Binghamton (21), UMass Lowell (15) and Hartford (7).

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Players Mentioned

Tatum Benesh

Elizabeth Blanding

Abby Cranney

Meghan Doyle

Taylor Dudek

Liv Dunn

Sabrina Grovom

Jesslyn Hounchell

Rylee Leonard

Mackenzie MacEachern

Gabby Masseur

Julia Neyland

Olivia O'Connor

Delaney Pratt

Ava Schroeder

Issy Torres

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