Conference Play Begins March 6 at UAlbany (AE.tv)

New Hampshire (1-1, 0-0 America East) at UAlbany (2-2, 0-0 America East)
Saturday, March 6 | 3 PM
John Fallon Field | Albany, N.Y.

WATCH ONLINE (americaeast.tv) | Live Stats

UNH Women's Lacrosse Home Page
UAlbany Women's Lacrosse Home Page

FOLLOW THE UNH WOMEN'S LACROSSE TEAM
Twitter:     @UNHWomensLax      Twitter: @UNHWildcats
Instagram:  @unhwomenslax      Instagram: @UNHWildcats
Facebook: UNH Wildcats
Get UNH Women's Lacrosse Emails                    Get UNH Athletics Emails

THE MATCHUP | CLICK HERE for series history (April 2006 – May 2019)

Saturday's game is the America East conference opener for both teams.
UNH has an 11-14 lifetime record against UAlbany. The Great Danes won the most recent matchup, 20-16, in the 2019 America East semifinals at Stony Brook; in that game, UAlbany rattled off eight consecutive goals spanning the first and second halves to transform a 9-6 deficit into a 14-9 lead.
The Great Danes have won each of the past 13 meetings dating back to April 2010. Four of those games were decided by one goal – most recently 12-11 at UAlbany in April 2019. The 2017 matchup in Albany was also decided by one goal (9-8).
The Wildcats' most recent win in the series was a 17-9 victory in the 2009 America East semifinal at Boston University.
UNH has lost seven straight meetings in Albany dating back to a 6-4 win the 2007 season.
These programs met annually from 2001-19 (since UAlbany joined America East).

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 1-1 record following last Friday's season-opening 20-9 win vs. Merrimack College at Wildcat Stadium and last Sunday's 19-3 loss at UConn.
UNH is 0-1 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).
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.

TOP 'CATS

Through two games, sophomore Liv Dunn is atop the New Hampshire leaderboard in both goals (five) and points (six).
Senior Sabrina Grovom scored two goals each of the first two games to rank second in goals (four), and her four points is tied for third; she has scored four goals on four shots.
Grovom scored a total of four goals (and six points) her first three years as a Wildcat.
Senior Julia Neyland ranks second in points (five) and assists (two), as well as third in goals (three).
Grad student and captain Rylee Leonard has a team-high three assists and one goal to tie for third in points (with four).
Five other 'Cats have recorded two points on two goals.
Juniors Taylor Dudek and Issy Torres are tied for the team lead with four ground balls. Six Wildcats have three GBs.
Dudek, senior captain Tatum Benesh and junior Meghan Doyle all have three caused turnovers.
Dudek led the 2020 squad in ground balls and ranked third in caused turnovers.
Junior Delaney Pratt and Leonard rank 1-2 in draw controls with six and four, respectively.

TWO-GAME POINT STREAK

Three Wildcats recorded a point in both games of season-opening weekend.
Senior Sabrina Grovom scored two goals in both games.
Grad student Rylee Leonard tallied three points (1g, 2a) vs. Merrimack and had one assist at UConn.
Sophomore Izzy Holmes scored a goal in both games.

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 (Elmhurst, Ill.) 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.
The shot leaders were Neyland (nine), Dunn (seven) and Cranney (seven).
Four Wildcats were credited with one caused turnover: junior Taylor Dudek, sophomore Jessie Hounchell, Schroeder and O'Connor.

UCONN RECAP

UConn scored the first 12 goals of the game en route to a 12-1 halftime lead and 19-3 victory against New Hampshire at Morrone Stadium last Sunday.
Junior goalie Issy Torres made eight of her 10 saves in the first half. She was also credited with a team-high four ground balls.
UConn finished with the advantage in shots (36-12), ground balls (20-14), draw controls (18-6) and turnovers (13-16).
UNH was 0-for-1 on free-position shots and 7 of 13 on clear attempts. The Huskies were 4-for-9 on free positions and 9 of 13 on clears; they also scored four player-up goals.

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).

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tatum Benesh

Abby Cranney

Meghan Doyle

Taylor Dudek

Liv Dunn

Sabrina Grovom

Izzy Holmes

Jesslyn Hounchell

Rylee Leonard

Mackenzie MacEachern

Gabby Masseur

Julia Neyland

Olivia O'Connor

Delaney Pratt

Ava Schroeder

Issy Torres