GAME DAY INFORMATION |
DATE: March 27, 2020
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LOCATION: Pace Stadium
Syracuse, N.Y.
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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 will make their first road trek of the season on Saturday when they travel to Pace University for an afternoon battle with the Setters. Opening draw from Pace Stadium is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. with all the action broadcast live on the Chargers Sports Network on NE10 NOW.
SERIES HISTORY VS PACE
In a series that dates back just five years, the New Haven women's lacrosse team holds a 5-1 record against the Setters, including two wins during the 2019 campaign, the latter of which came in overtime of the NE10 Championship quarterfinals. The lone loss for the Chargers came during the 2018 meeting with Pace taking a 15-10 decision in West Haven.
SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
The Chargers look to break a two-game skid with their first road contest of the season on Saturday after dropping decisions to Le Moyne and Bentley in back-to-back home games. Overall, New Haven is averaging just over 10 goals per game with senior attack Emily Holland (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) leading the way with 11 goals, having scored in each of the first three games. Also netting at least one goal in all three contests is junior midfielder Marina Skelly (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot), junior attack Julia Astram (Milford, Conn./Milford) and freshman midfielder Cypress Levitt (Calais, Vt./Montpelier). Among that trio, Skelly leads the way, entering the weekend with eight goals, while both Levitt and Astram have four goals to their credit. In goal, the Chargers have relied on freshman Fabi McLeod (Concord, N.H./Cheshire Academy) in its last two games, with the rookie stopping 17 shots combined.
SCOUTING THE SETTERS
Pace, who enters the weekend ranked No. 24 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll and is receiving votes in the US Lacrosse Magazine Poll, sports a perfect 3-0 record on the young season, outscoring those three opponents by 13 goals per game (19.3 gpg vs 6.3 gpg). Their most recent outing was a 22-8 win over the visiting American International Yellow Jackets on Wednesday evening. For the season, Pace's offense is led by Carlyn Mucci who sports 19 goals to her credit, 13 more than her closest teammate. Overall, 15 different Setters have found the back of the cage, making up their 58 total goals as a team. Between the pipes, the Setters have split time between a pair of keepers with junior Sienna Masullo starting all three games and racking up 12 saves and all three victories.
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 61 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 eight 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 40 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 continue its road trip with a second-straight away from its West Haven Campus on Wednesday, March 31 when the Blue and Gold travel to Garden City, N.Y. for a date with the Adelphi Panthers. Opening draw from Motamed Field is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. with all the action from the game carried live on NE10 NOW.
