GAME DAY INFORMATION DATE: April 30, 2021 LOCATION: Kathy Zolad Stadium West Haven, Conn. GAME DAY LINKS LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

NEWS NEWS ROSTER ROSTER SCHEDULE SCHEDULE STATS STATS

THE LEAD
The No. 19 New Haven women's lacrosse team will open post-season play Friday night, when they host cross-town rival Southern Connecticut State in the opening round of the 2021 Northeast-10 Conference Championship. Opening draw in the Elm City Rivalry is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. with live coverage of the action at Kathy Zolad Stadium streamed via the Charger Sports Network on NE10 NOW and live stats available at NewHavenChargers.com.

UPDATED SPECTATOR POLICY
With the support of the Northeast-10 Conference Presidents, the University of New Haven updated its Spring 2021 Spectator Policy in attempts to allow parents of our athletes to attend contests this spring. The new policy (as of April 9) states that University of New Haven students, faculty and staff may attend by showing cleared status in CoVerified. In addition, each participating University of New Haven student-athlete is allowed two (2) off-campus guests per contest, provided that prior to arrival, off-campus guests must provide proof of full vaccination or submit a negative CoVID-19 test result from within 72 hours of the start of the contest. Full vaccination is defined as two week post receiving a second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the first dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

SERIES HISTORY VS SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT STATE
These two sides met just five days ago, with the Chargers taking down the Owls 13-10 on the road Monday night. In a series that dates back to 2002, New Haven now holds an 18-2 record in the all-time series against its crosstown rival Southern Connecticut, including a streak of 14-straight victories leading into Friday's meeting. When playing across town on SCSU's campus, the Chargers now own an 8-1 record, while over the 20-game series, New Haven is averaging 16.35 goals per game while posting its largest victory in 2013, a 20-2 decision at Zolad Stadium.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
New Haven comes into Friday after taking down the Owls Monday on the road. Senior Emily Holland (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) led the Charger attack with five goals in that game, in addition to an assist, tying her highest point total of the season. Junior Marina Skelly (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot) was just behind Holland with her second hat-track in as many games, along with a helper for four total points, bringing her to 29 goals and 35 overall points this season to lead the team in both categories. Sophomore Annie Acquavita (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) scored a pair in the win over the Owls, bringing her season total 25 goals, second best on the team to round out a trio of 20 goal scorers for New Haven. Freshman Cypress Levitt (Calais, Vt./Montpelier) stands just outside that group as the fourth-highest scorer for the Chargers this season, netting 18 goals in addition to four assists. Levitt also leads the defense in the draw control department, corralling a team-high 61, just ahead of the program record holder, graduate Raven Linton (Lawrenceville, N.J./Notre Dame) who currently stands at 48 this season and 313 for her career.

SCOUTING THE OWLS
Southern Connecticut will play its third game in five days Friday, as they hosted New Haven Monday night, and traveled to Le Moyne Wednesday, where the Owls fell 23-6 to the #3/3 Dolphins. Hailey Gordon and Bailey Takacs each scored a pair, giving them to 12 and 10 goals respectively this season. The duo is also tied for the team high in assists, dishing out nine each to lead the Southern attack. On defense, Kelly Jagodzinski leads the draw-control category with 41, in addition to corralling 10 ground balls, also a team high. Between the pipes, senior Laura Morton has made 68 saves during the 2021 campaign, bringing her career total to 464 which is second all time in program history.

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 that 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 16 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 33 games played, entering Friday with 61 career goals, passing the mid-century mark in the second game against Saint Rose this season with four goals. In the game prior against Le Moyne, Skelly reached 50 points in her career with a goal in the second half.

POST SEASON PLANS
The 2021 Northeast-10 Conference Championship Tournament will begin Friday with seeds 2-7 competing in the Southwest Division, and seed 3-6 competing that day in the Northeast Division. The Divisional semifinals will take place on Monday, May 3, with the winners going on to play Thursday May 4 for a spot in the title game. The 2021 Women's Lacrosse Championship will be played Sunday, May 9 with the winner receiving the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. All games in the tournament will be played at the site of the higher seed.

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

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 Pace, 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 20th among the top-25 teams in the nation.

THE RACE TO 200
With its six wins so far this season, the Blue and Gold are in the midst of a race that sees them just two 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 198 wins to date, 170 have come under the leadership of 15th year head coach Jen Fallon. 

UP NEXT
The winner of this game will go on to play the top seed in the Southwest Division, No. 1 Le Moyne, Monday afternoon in Syracuse, N.Y. Le Moyne will enter that matchup ranked as the No. 3 team in all of Division II. Opening draw is currently scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Ted Grant Field.