GAME DAY INFORMATION |
DATE: March 24, 2020
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LOCATION: Kathy Zolad Stadium
West Haven, Conn.
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GAME DAY LINKS |
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
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THE LEAD
The No. 14/20 New Haven women's lacrosse team looks to bounce back from a 13-6 loss to No. 4/3 Le Moyne when they host a midweek match against No. 17/RV Bentley as the Chargers step away from NE10 Southwest Division play Thursday afternoon. Opening draw against the Falcons is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. with all the action from Kathy Zolad Stadium broadcast live on the Chargers Sports Network on NE10 NOW.
2021 FAN POLICY FOR HOME GAMES
With the primary goal of keep those within the University Community safe, UNH will not be allowing fans from outside of the campus community at any athletic event. Any student, faculty or staff member attending an athletic contest must prove clearance in CoVerified upon arrival. Athletic facilities will be subject to State capacity limitations and spectators must abide University by masking and social distancing guidelines at all times. This policy includes all venues on the University's main campus and the North Campus athletic facilities and parking lots. Tailgating outside of venues is also prohibited. UNH will continue to monitor the pandemic and will adjust the policy should the opportunity exist. While this policy is in place, the Department of Athletics will make every effort to broadcast all home games on the Charger Sports Network on NE10 NOW. For a list of upcoming broadcasts Click Here.
SERIES HISTORY VS BENTLEY
In a series that dates back to 2006 the two sides have remained close with New Haven holding the slight edge, 9-7, with the Blue and Gold also winning six of the last eight meetings. The most recent matchup, in 2019, needed overtime to decide a winner, with the Falcons coming out on top 14-13. In the history of the series the home side has won 12 of the 16 meetings with the Chargers hosting nine of those games, winning seven.
SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
The Chargers attack was unsuccessful in building a second half rally in its last matchup against Le Moyne scoring just six goals on the afternoon, inlcuding a single goal in the second half. Senior Emily Holland (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) notched a pair of goals in the loss, her sixth consecutive game with a goal dating back to the 2019 season, extending her team-lead to eight goals on the year. Junior Marina Skelly (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot) also scored against the Dolphins bringing her just 12 goals shy of 50 for her career and just 10 points away from fifty in her time with the Blue and Gold. The game Saturday also featured the second freshman to debut between the pipes for New Haven as Fabi McLeod (Concord, N.H./Cheshire Academy) made her first collegiate appearance, stopping nine shots in a full 60 minutes of work.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Bentley will take the field competitively for the first time in 2021 when they enter Zolad Stadium on Thursday, the third team, in as many contests, that New Haven has been the season opener for. The last time the Falcons played was March 3, 2020 prior to the CoVID-19 shutdown. In three games ahead of the shutdown, Bentley posted a 3-1 record including victories over NYIT and Molloy, while their single loss came by just the differential of one goal. In those three games, Bentley averaged 12.3 goals per game while holding their opponents to just 8.3 goals. Nine different Falcon players all recorded a goal through the three games in 2020, led by then sophomore Christine Fish with seven. Following her was then junior Sandrine Heller who finished with five goals while leading the team with six assists for a team-high 11 points. The Falcons also have the support of a returning keeper, now a graduate student, who played every minute in goal last season, racking up 23 saves on the shortened year.
LINTON SETS PROGRAM RECORD IN SEASON OPENER
Heading into the season opener, New Haven's graduate defender Raven Linton (Lawrenceville, N.J./Notre Dame) needed just nine draw controls to tie Kathryn Campbell '12 for the program record. By the time the final horn blew, Linton hadn't just tied Campbell, she surpassed her career total setting a new program record with 276 total draw controls. The best part about it, Linton has 10 more games on the schedule to add to that total putting it farther out of reach for future Chargers.
HOLLAND ON THE HUNT
With her six goals in the season opener against American International, senior attack Emily Holland (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) began her milestone march towards 100 career goals. Currently with 60 goals, if she were to maintain her current four goal per game average, she would reach the century club in the regular season finale which slated to be against Saint Rose on May 1. If she were to reach that plateau, she would be the 18th player in program history to hit that mark, and the first since Mackenzie Reh (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) '19.
SKELLY KEEPS STREAK ALIVE
Dating back to April 27, 2019, junior midfielder Marina Skelly (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot) has scored at least one goal in each of the last seven games for the Blue and Gold. Overall in her career, she has scored at least one goal in all but four of her 23 games played, entering today's game against Bentley with 38 career goals, inching closer to the mid-century mark.
THE 2021 SCHEDULE
As announced by the league prior to the season, the NE10 adopted a divisional format for 2021 – Northeast and Southwest – with all schools slated to play a 12-game conference schedule. Each team will play their divisional opponents twice. New Haven will play in the Southwest Division which is made up of seven teams including Adelphi, American International, Le Moyne, Pace, Saint Rose and Southern Connecticut. In addition to its 12-game conference schedule, this game against Bentley will be the lone non-divisional game for the Chargers this season.
CHARGERS FOURTH IN PRESEASON POLL
In a poll of the conference's 14 head coaches, the UNH women's lacrosse team was selected to finish fourth, among the seven teams, in the Southwest Division. Adelphi received 86 points and eight of the 14 possible first place votes to take the top spot in the division. Just two points behind them was Le Moyne who scored the remaining six first place tallies. Rounding out the top three was Pace with 61 points, followed closely by the Chargers with 58 points. Southern Connecticut (38 points), American International (32) and Saint Rose (26) rounded out the division. In the Northeast Division, Bentley and Assumption finished just one point apart for first place, with the Falcons earning 79 points and five first place votes, while Assumption came in with 78 points and seven first place votes.
LINTON NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
In its annual release of preseason All-Americans in early January, US Lacrosse Magazine included graduate defender Raven Linton (Lawrenceville, N.J./Notre Dame) among its 13-member team. Linton was one of four players in the Northeast-10 to earn the distinction. In the shortened season in 2020, Linton finished with 18 draw controls, splitting them evenly against Holy Family and New York Tech, also scoring once against each. The defender has been a force on the draw since arriving at New Haven, amassing 265 total heading into the season opener against American International. Her 265 draw controls is currently second most in program history, needing just 10 to pass Kathryn Campbell (2012-15) who finished with 274. In addition, Linton has scored nine goals, racked up 103 ground balls and caused 90 turnovers.
CHARGERS NATIONALLY RANKED IN BOTH POLLS
Following the Saturday bout with Le Moyne, the Chargers remain among the top teams in the country, earning a spot in both the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) and the Nike/US Lacrosse polls. In the Coaches Poll, conducted by the IWLCA, New Haven enters the week up one spot to 14th among the top-25, while in the Nike/US Lacrosse Poll, New Haven comes in 20th in the 20-team poll conducted by the national governing body for women's lacrosse.
UP NEXT
New Haven will return to southwest divisional play Saturday for its first road contest of the season, traveling to Pleasantville, N.Y. to take on Pace University. Opening draw against the No. 24/RV Setters is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Pace Stadium. All action from the game will be carried live on NE10 NOW.
