| No. 3 Elon (4-10, 3-2 CAA) vs. No. 2 Towson (14-3, 5-1 CAA) |
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ELON, N.C. – Third-seeded Elon University women's lacrosse will meet second-seeded Towson for the third-straight season in the CAA Semifinals Friday night, May 4, at James Madison's Sentara Park. Towson has been Elon's CAA Semifinal opponent in each of the three seasons Elon has reached the CAA Championships. In 2016, the Tigers won 8-6 in Philadelphia before Elon earned a 10-9 overtime victory in 2017 at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Maryland.
SCOUTING TOWSON
-At 6-8 on the year, Delaware ended a three-game losing streak last time out with a 12-8 victory over Hofstra on the road after falling to Towson and James Madison to start the CAA season. The Blue Hens are led by four players that have scored at least 20 goals, but Becky Gohsler leads the way with 26 goals and 13 assists for a team-best 39 points. Mia DeRuggiero is second on the team with 30 points, but 26 of them are helpers to go with four goals. Elon and Delaware have played three tight games to date with no team scoring more than eight times in a game. In the first meeting, Delaware won 8-6 in Newark before Elon took the last two meetings - both at Rudd Field - by scores of 5-4 (OT) and 6-3.
LAST TIME OUT
-Elon last played on Sunday, April 22, on the road against Drexel where Elon won 18-13.
Stephanie Asher scored six goals and had an assist to lead the Phoenix on the way to being named CAA Player of the Week.
Bridget Lamb also had a career day with five ground balls and four caused turnovers to take CAA Defensive Player of the Week. Elon's Senior Day game against William & Mary scheduled for Saturday, April 28, was cancelled due to health issues with the Tribe. Elon still held Senior Day ceremonies at Rudd Field, even though there was no contest played.
PACING THE NATION
With 178 career goals,
Stephanie Asher ranks 11th-best among active players nationally. The senior from Glenelg, Md., has tallied 38 times this year, including five in the season opener against Duke, five on March 1 against High Point, four against Stanford on March 4, four against Coastal Carolina on March 18 and six at Drexel on April 22.
DEFENSIVE STALWART
Alexis Zadjura became the second player in program history and the first field player to reach 100 ground balls in a career with 110. Former Phoenix netminder Rachel Ramirez holds the program record with 338 from 2014-17. Zadjura reached the mark March 24 in a 14-12 loss to No. 16 Virginia Tech.
CONTROLLING THE DRAW
Elon has taken control of the draw circle over the course of the past eight games, grabbing 96 draws while allowing opponents to just 88. In Elon's first six games, opponents took a total of 86 to Elon's 57.
Stephanie Asher has played a big role in the turnaround, grabbing 50 draws in the last eight games. With 70 on the season, Asher has already set a new program record for most in a single campaign, passing Elle Hvozdovic's previous high of 52 in 2014. On March 18 at Coastal Carolina, Asher took a program-record 10 draw controls in Elon's 14-6 win over the Chanticleers.
ALL-CAA HONORS
Stephanie Asher was named a First Team All-CAA honoree for the third-straight year on Thursday, May 3. She was joined by
Alexis Zadjura as a three-time honoree with Zadjura taking Second Team honors for the third year in a row.
Quinn Daly has posted a strong rookie season and earned a spot on the CAA All-Rookie Team.
TEWAARATON WATCH LIST
For the second year in a row,
Stephanie Asher has been named to the Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List. Announced Thursday night, March 1, Asher was one of 50 players to initially be named to the list for the prestigious award. On the night of the announcement, Asher tallied a game-high five goals against High Point.
PRESEASON HONORS
Stephanie Asher became the first player in program history to earn Preseason All-America accolades when she was named an Inside Lacrosse honorable mention in early February. The recognition came on the heels of Asher and
Alexis Zadjura being named Preseason All-CAA honorees. Asher has now been a Preseason All-CAA honoree three years in a row and Zadjura was an honorable mention in 2017 before making First Team in 2018.
ELON ON LAX SPORTS NETWORK
Elon had two regular season games air on Lax Sports Network as part of the CAA Game of the Week package. First, Elon defeated Hofstra 12-8 in Hempstead, N.Y., on April 6. The second game came Friday night, April 13, against Towson, a 10-4 loss for the Phoenix. Additionally, the CAA Championship semifinals and finals are set to air on LSN. The 2018 season marks the second year the CAA has partnered with LSN to expand the reach of CAA lacrosse.
2017 TIDBITS
-Three CAA teams, including Elon, went to the NCAA Tournament. It marks the most in one tourney since 2001 when James Madison, Loyola (Md.) and William & Mary all went dancing.
-Two programs - Elon and Colorado - were added prior to the start of the 2014 season. Both teams went to the NCAA Tournament in 2017 in their fourth year of competition. Elon lost to Virginia in the first round and Colorado fell 13-7 to UMass, also in the first round.
-A year ago, Elon posted a program-record 13 wins. It also made its first trip to the CAA title game after beating second-seeded Towson on a
Stephanie Asher goal in overtime. Asher set the new program record for goals scored (58) and points (69).
UP NEXT
Should Elon advance, it will meet the winner of No. 1 James Madison and No. 4 Delaware on Sunday, May 6, at 1 p.m. Elon met JMU in last year's CAA title game, but fell 15-7 to the Dukes at Towson's Johnny Unitas Stadium.
--ELON--
