PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team (1-7) will open the Atlantic 10 Conference portion of the 2016 schedule with a pair of games this weekend, beginning at home against #20 Massachusetts (7-1, 0-0 A-10) this Friday, April 1. Opening draw is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Sweeney Field.
The Hawks will then face the Wildcats (3-4) of Davidson College on the road this Sunday, April 3. Opening draw is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Richardson Stadium.
Live streaming ($) of both league games will be available via a subscription to the Atlantic 10 Digital Network. Live stats will also be provided at SJUHawks.com for Friday's game and DavidsonWildcats.com for Sunday's game.
Seven-time defending A-10 champion UMass was unanimously picked to finish first in the A-10 preseason poll, while Davidson was selected seventh. The Hawks were picked eighth.
HIGH-FLYING HAWKS
Through eight games, junior attacker Nora McCallion (team-best 19g, 6a) and junior midfielder Maggie Egan (7g, team-best 15a) lead the squad on the offensive end of the field while junior attacker Sarah Smith (11g, 3a), freshman midfielder Rebecca Lane (11g, 1a), and senior midfielder Mallory Grey (7g, 7a) have also turned in double-digit points for the Crimson and Gray. Egan also leads the team in draw controls (24) while senior defender Caroline Hagan (13gb, team-best 12ct) and junior midfielder Megan Tracy (14gb, 9ct) have anchored SJU's defense. Senior goalkeeper Genevieve Giblin (1-7) owns a 13.58 GAA and .338 save percentage a team-best 15 ground balls in 441:57, playing all but 38:03 in net through non-conference action.
SERIES HISTORY VS. MASSACHUSETTS
Friday's game will mark the 24th all-time meeting between the Hawks and the Minutewomen; UMass leads the series, 21-2, and has won the last 11 consecutive meetings, including the most recent by a score of 16-7 on April 17 of last season. The Hawks last defeated the Minutewomen on April 10, 2005 by a final score of 10-7.
SCOUTING THE MINUTEWOMEN
Massachusetts enters Saturday's game at 7-1 overall. The Minutewomen won their first four home games of the season against Holy Cross (16-5), New Hampshire (16-4), Boston University (11-8), and Yale (13-3) before dropping their first road contest of the season to then-#14 Boston College (9-8). From that point, UMass has won three straight over then-#20 UConn (15-6), Michigan (15-5), and Albany (13-7). Massachusetts sports three 20+ point scorers in Erika Eipp (18g, 19a), Nicole Troost (23g, 4a), and Holly Turner (15g, 10a) while Hannah Murphy (14g, 4a) owns 49 draw controls. Sam Walters (7-1) owns a 6.74 GAA and .491 save percentage in 240:00, the first half of every game, while Aileen Kelly sports a 5.00 GAA and .535 in 240:00. UMass went 19-2 overall and 8-0 in the A-10 last season.
SERIES HISTORY VS. DAVIDSON
Sunday's game will mark the fourth all-time meeting between the Hawks and the Wildcats; Saint Joseph's leads the series, 2-1. Davidson won the last meeting by a final score of 13-10 on April 19 of last season. Prior to last season's match-up, the teams had not met since 1995; the Hawks won on March 7, 1995 (17-8) and April 24, 1994 (16-6).
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Davidson currently sits 3-4 overall and will open its A-10 portion of the schedule this Friday at home vs. La Salle. The Wildcats alternated losses to Virginia Tech (9-8) and Winthrop (8-5) and wins over Kennesaw State (19-6) and Holy Cross (8-7) and added a second consecutive win over High Point (12-7) before dropping their two most recent contests to Lehigh (7-5) and Elon (12-6). Davidson has played six of its seven games at home thus far and sits 2-4 in games played at Richardson Stadium. The Wildcats are led by Christine Molinari (7g, 12a) and Emma Sissman (16g, 1a) while Rose Woolson (3-3) sports a 9.04 GAA and .477 save percentage in 305:16. Davidson went 6-10 overall and 3-5 in the A-10 last season.
LAST TIME OUT
The Hawks are coming in off of an 11-10 loss at Villanova last Wednesday. The Hawks chipped away at a three-goal deficit with a pair of goals in the final 2:09 but ultimately fell short. Sophomore midfielder Aly Gormley led all Hawks in scoring with a single-game career-high three goals while senior midfielder Mallory Grey and freshman midfielder Hayley Sabol contributed two goals and one assist each. In addition to her three-point effort, Grey also turned in a game-high four ground balls while junior midfielder Maggie Egan won a team-high three draw controls. Senior defender Caroline Hagan caused two turnovers, which moves her into a tie for second all-time in career turnovers (66) at Saint Joseph's. Making her first collegiate appearance between the pipes, graduate student Ashley Alden made five saves and allowed six goals in the final 38:03.
HAWKS PICKED EIGHTH IN A-10 PRESEASON POLL
The Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team was picked to finish eighth in the Atlantic 10 this season, according to the conference's preseason poll. Under the direction of second-year head coach Alex Kahoe, Saint Joseph's returned 18 Hawks, including nine starters, and added eight newcomers to the field for the 2016 season.
RECORD WATCH
Entering the weekend, Saint Joseph's senior defender Caroline Hagan owns 66 caused turnovers for her career and needs one to match and two to break Alli MacDonald's record for all-time career caused turnovers at SJU. Senior goalkeeper Genevieve Giblin ranks sixth in career saves (267), 82 saves behind fifth.
