Elon, N.C. – The Elon lacrosse team continues its three-game season-opening homestand Wednesday night by hosting first-year Division I program Queens at 5:00 p.m. at Rudd Stadium. Both teams enter the contest at 0-1 on the season looking for their first victory of the 2023 campaign.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW

• Live stats are available by CLICKING HERE.
• The game will be broadcasted on FloSports for a subscription fee. To watch Wednesday's game, please CLICK HERE.
• Follow the official social media accounts of Elon Lacrosse:
  • Twitter - @ElonWLax
  • Instagram - @ElonWLax

 
ABOUT QUEENS

• Queens is in its first season at the NCAA Division I level and is playing as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
• The Royals opened their DI era Saturday with a 13-6 home loss against No. 22 Richmond.
• First-year head coach Kelly McQuilkin was most recently the associate head coach at High Point. She played within the Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA) at Towson, where she was a three-year starter.
• Queens went 21-1 a year ago at the NCAA Division II level, advancing to the NCAA semifinals before a 13-12 overtime loss – the team's only defeat of the season.
• Since 2019, Queens has gone 59-6 at the NCAA Division II level
• Queens goalies combined to make 10 saves Saturday against Richmond and the Royals held the edge in ground balls, 22-21.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• This will be the first ever meeting between Elon and Queens.

 
LAST TIME OUT

• Elon outshot Old Dominion 26-25 but the Monarchs scored the final goals of the contest to defeat the Phoenix 12-11 Saturday in the season opener for both teams.
• Mikaela Buoscio tied the program record with seven caused turnovers in one game and she added three ground balls and a draw control.
• Cierra Hopson had four goals and an assist, adding three caused turnovers. She was also 1-for-1 on free position shots.
• Six different players scored at least one goal for Elon.
• Old Dominion committed 28 turnovers in the contest, a program record in a single-game, and Elon caused a program record 22 turnovers.

 
TURNING THEM OVER

• Elon set a number of single-game school records Saturday against Old Dominion as the Phoenix continually forced the Monarchs into turnovers.
• Old Dominion committed 28 turnovers, the most committed by an Elon opponent in a single game, breaking the previous record of 25 set by William & Mary in 2017.
• Elon was a factor in most of those, causing a school-record 22 turnovers in the game. That broke the previous record of 18 caused turnovers in the 2017 contest against William & Mary.
• Mikaela Buoscio was especially adept at forcing turnovers, tying the program record with seven caused turnovers in a contest. That ties the seven that Melanie McHugh caused in that 2017 William & Mary game.
• Kaley Ehnow, Cierra Hopson and Julia Dalmass each forced three turnovers as well. Freshman Jessie Penner forced two in her collegiate debut.

 
HOPSON'S FLURRY

• Cierra Hopson led Elon with four goals and five points Saturday against Old Dominion, with most of those coming in a three-minute stretch that spanned across halftime.
• With Elon trailing 7-5, she scored twice in the final 45 seconds of the second quarter to tie the game.
• Within the first two minutes of the second half, Hopson added two more points. She scored just 77 seconds into the period and then assisted on Sammy Fisher's goal 23 seconds later that gave Elon a 9-7 advantage.  

 
ELON AMONG THE CAA LEADERS

• Through the opening weekend of action, Elon leads the CAA in both ground balls and caused turnovers, while Mikaela Buoscio is first in the conference in caused turnovers. Elon's rankings among the CAA are listed below:

 
TEAM RANKINGS (TOP THREE)
Shots on Goal – 3. Elon 20.0/game
Ground Balls – 1. Elon 24.0/game
Caused Turnovers – 1. Elon 22.0/game
 
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (TOP FIVE)
Goals – t3. Cierra Hopson 4.0/game
Points – t4. Cierra Hopson 5.0/game
Save Percentage – 5. Caitlin Walsh .438
Saves – 3. Caitlin Walsh 7.0/game
Ground Balls – t4. Kailee Follette 4.0/game; t4. Jessie Penner 4.0/game
Caused Turnovers – 1. Mikaela Buoscio 7.0/game; t5. Kaley Ehnow 3.0/game; t5. Cierra Hopson 3.0/game; t5. Julia Dalmass 3.0/game
 
FOLLETTE EARNS CAA PRESEASON RECOGNITION

• Junior defender Kailee Follette was named to the 2023 CAA Women's Lacrosse Preseason All-Conference honorable mention team.
• Follette played in all 16 games a year ago, starting 15 times. She led Elon with 26 ground balls and 15 caused turnovers.
• She has started 27 times over the course of her first two years at Elon.

 
TEAM CAPTAINS NAMED

• Head Coach Josh Hexter has named senior Julia Dalmass and Ellie Stricker, along with juniors Kailee Follette and Mikaela Buoscio as captains for the 2023 season.
• Dalmass is a team captain for the second consecutive year and has started all 33 of Elon's games over the past three years. She has 22 career caused turnovers, 32 career ground balls and 25 career draw controls.
• Stricker started 14 games in 2022 and had 15 ground balls and seven cause turnovers on the season.
• Follette led the 2022 team with 26 ground balls and 15 caused turnovers.
• Buoscio has played in 25 games over the past two seasons, recording three goals and three assists in 2022. She was 2-for-2 on free position shots and added nine ground balls, 12 draw controls and four caused turnovers.

 
GLOBAL IMPACT

• Over Thanksgiving Break 2022, the Elon lacrosse team spent a week in Greece as part of Elon's commitment to diversity and global engagement.
• The team spent time exploring the country, visiting places like Athens, Olympia, and the Acropolos, as well as leading lacrosse clinics at different schools.