GAME DAY INFORMATION |
DATE: April 21, 2021
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LOCATION: Ronald J. Abdow Field
Springfield, Mass. |
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GAME DAY LINKS |
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO |
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THE LEAD
The No. 19 New Haven women's lacrosse team takes to the road on Wednesday when it travels to take on American International College. Opening draw in the Northeast-10 Southwest Division match-up is slated for 7:00 p.m. with all of the action available live on NE10 NOW and live stats available through NewHavenChargers.com.
SERIES HISTORY VS AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL
New Haven will look for the series sweep of AIC after taking the first meeting 17-7 on Mar. 13 in what was the first game for either side after the CoVID-19 shutdown last season. In a series that dates back to the 2001 campaign, New Haven holds an 18-3 overall record against the Yellow Jackets all-time. Among those 18 victories are 16-straight against the Yellow Jackets with the last AIC victory dating back to April 2004. Additionally, the Chargers have not lost to AIC since joining the NE10 for the 2009 season, having met their fellow conference member once each season with the exception of the shortened 2020 campaign.
SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
New Haven will look to bounce back from Saturday night's loss to Pace at Kathy Zolad Stadium. Three Chargers hit the back of the net in that game with freshman Cypress Levitt (Calais, Vt./Montpelier) leading the group with four goals. She also scored two goals and an assist in the midweek against Saint Rose, while corralling 10 draw controls across the two games, earning her NE10 Rookie of the Week honors. On the season Levitt stands fourth on the stat sheet in points (15) and total points (19). Junior Marina Skelly (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot) leads the team in both of those categories with 19 goals and 23 total points, followed by senior Emily Holland (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) and sophomore Annie Acquavita (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) with 22 and 21 goals respectively.
SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
American International enters Wednesday afternoon in search of its second win of the season, with its only previous victory coming in the second game of the year against NE10 newcomer Saint Rose on the Yellow Jackets Abdow Field. Overall, AIC sports a 1-9 record with one of those games, a non-conference meeting with Saint Anselm. Individually, redshirt senior midfielder Krista Iwanicki leads the Yellow Jackets with 19 goals, one of four players with double digit scores. Defensively, redshirt senior Chelsea Davis has started all 10 games, allowing an average of 14.32 goals per game and making 93 total saves.
LEVITT TABBED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Helping her team to a 1-1 week, freshman Cypress Levitt (Calais, Vt./Montpelier) racked up seven points on six goals and an assist earning her first Northeast-10 weekly accolade when she was tabbed Rookie of the Week on Monday, April 19. Five of her six goals came during the course of play, while one came on came from a free-position attempt. Her six goals tied her for the team lead this past week, including four goals, all in succession, against Pace on Saturday night. She tallied two in a win at Saint Rose earlier in the week. In addition to her seven points, she added a team-high 10 draw controls, forced two turnovers and gathered one ground ball.
ACQUAVITA ADDS TO THE TROPHY CASE
The sophomore attacks haul of six goals and two assists in the home win over Saint Rose, with the addition of a goal in the upset of Adelphi, helped Annie Acquavita (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) pick up the first weekly accolade of the season for New Haven as she was tabbed the NE10 Rookie of the Week as announced by the league. Her six goals against the Golden Knights set a career-high while she jumped into third on the team in goals and a tie for second overall in points.
SKELLY KEEPS STREAK ALIVE
Dating back to April 27, 2019, junior midfielder Marina Skelly (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot) scored at least one goal in 15 straight games for the Blue and Gold, with that streak coming to an end in the home loss against Pace. Overall in her career, she has scored at least one goal in all but six of her 30 games played, entering Wednesday with 51 career goals, passing the mid-century mark in the game against Saint Rose with four goals that day. In the game prior against Le Moyne, Skelly reached 50 points in her career with a goal in the second half.
POST SEASON PLANS
As announced by the conference office on April 1st, the NE10 has adopted a postseason plan that includes all 14 teams qualifying for the conference championship. The Championship will be conducted in divisional play until the title game. With seven teams in each division, the top seeded team will receive a one-round bye with the highest seeds, 2-4, hosting first round games on Friday, April 30. Second round match-ups will take place on Monday, May 3 with a divisional championship set for Thursday, Mary 6. The NE10 Championship, which will pit the two divisional champions against each other, is slated for Sunday, May 9. NE10 Championship Women's Lacrosse Bracket (PDF)
Playoff Dates
Friday, April 30 - Southwest Division First Round
Monday, May 3 - Southwest Division Semifinal
Thursday, May 6 - Southwest Division Final
Sunday, May 9 - Northeast-10 Championship Game
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 293 draw controls puts her as the program's all-time leader, as Linton notched seven controls in the season opener this season, passing Kathryn Campbell (2012-15) who finished with 274. In addition, Linton has scored nine goals, racked up 115 ground balls and caused 102 turnovers.
CHARGERS NATIONALLY RANKED IN COACHES POLL
Following last weekend's loss to Saint Rose, the Chargers remain among the top teams in the country, earning a spot in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) poll. In the Coaches Poll, conducted by the IWLCA, New Haven enters the week 19th among the top-25.
THE RACE TO 200
With its four wins so far this season, the Blue and Gold are in the midst of a race that sees them just four victories away from reaching 200 wins in program history. With lacrosse dating back to the 2001 season, the Chargers entered 2021 needing eight wins to hit the program milestone. Of those 196 wins to date, 168 have come under the leadership of 15th year head coach Jen Fallon.
UP NEXT
New Haven close outs its regular season home schedule on Saturday afternoon when they host the No. 12/14 Adelphi Panthers at Kathy Zolad Stadium. Opening draw is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. with all of the action carried live on the Charger Sports Network on NE10 NOW, and live stats available through NewHavenChargers.com. Prior to the game, the Blue and Gold will recognize their senior class and celebrate their hard work and dedication to the Charger program.
