Elon, N.C. – The Elon Lacrosse team (3-5) closes the non-conference portion of the regular season Wednesday as the team travels to local rival High Point for a 5 p.m. match-up. That game leapfrogs the Phoenix into conference play as Elon plays at CAA newcomer Monmouth Saturday at 11 a.m.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW

• Wednesday at High Point
  • Live Stats
  • ESPN+
• Saturday at Monmouth
  • Live Stats
  • FloSports
• Follow the official social media accounts of Elon Lacrosse:
  • Twitter - @ElonWLax
  • Instagram - @ElonWLax

 
ABOUT HIGH POINT

• High Point enters Wednesday's game at 1-4 on the season, with the lone win coming in a 10-8 home victory over Mount St. Mary's. The team is coming off of a West coast road swing where the Panthers lost to No. 19 USC 14-6 and to San Diego State 17-9.
• High Point has pressured opponents defensively this year and rank No. 1 in the country in ground balls at 22.2 per game, while ranking 19^th in caused turnovers at 10.0. The squad is also 31^st in clearing percentage, allowing the offense to create opportunities offensively.
• The biggest struggle for the Panthers has come in draw controls where the team ranks last (No. 120) nationally at just 35.3 percent. They are also 117^th in save percentage (35.3 percent) and 112^th in shot percentage at 33.6 percent.
• Mena Loescher is a reliable scorer for High Point, averaging 5.0 points per game, good for No. 13 in the country. She is averaging 2.2 assists per game (No. 20 nationally) and generates 5.8 shots per game (No. 14 nationally).
• Head Coach Lyndsey Boswell has been dominant at High Point since taking over the reigns in 2009, with a 145-71 career record, including 72-6 in conference play. She has been named conference Coach of the Year six times, including five of the last six seasons in the Big South.

 
ABOUT MONMOUTH

• Monmouth is a newcomer to the CAA and was picked to finish sixth in the league in the preseason poll, one spot ahead of Elon. Sophomore attack Caroline Brennan and graduate midfielder Cassidy Orban were named to the CAA preseason all-conference team. Brennan leads the team in scoring with 35 points, while Orban is third with 25 points.
• Monmouth finished non-conference play at 6-4 overall, including two losses to ranked teams – 11-5 vs. No. 8/7 Rutgers and 20-6 vs. No. 23 Johns Hopkins. Both Elon and Monmouth beat George Mason, the only common opponent between the two programs.
• Monmouth is among the top 20 in the country in both caused turnovers and ground balls, generating extra opportunities by forcing turnovers. The Hawks, though, turn the ball over themselves 18.3 times per game (No. 112 nationally) and have a clear percentage of just 81.1 percent (No. 88 nationally) as well as a draw control percentage of 47.9 percent (No. 80 nationally).
• Brianna Falco is No. 15 in the country in caused turnovers at 2.0 per game and No. 18 with 3.1 ground balls. Mary Katherine George also forces a lot of turnovers with 1.9 caused per contest.
• Head coach Jordan Trautman took over the Monmouth program in time for the 2018 season after serving as the head coach at Kean University for five seasons. She has a career mark of 52-34.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• High Point holds a 4-3 edge in the all-time series and has won three in a row, including last year's 19-10 win. The Panthers scored the first three goals in that contest and led 7-2 after one period. Elon was never able to recover from the slow start.
• This will be the first all-time meeting between Elon and Monmouth.

 
LAST TIME OUT

• East Carolina used a 9-2 run over the second and third quarters to pull away for a 16-11 win over Elon on a wet and rainy Rudd Field Sunday.
• Anna Hackett, Kaley Ehnow and Camryn Levin all had hat tricks for the Phoenix and Elon outshot ECU 30-22.
• Hackett recorded a hat trick for the third consecutive game, while Ehnow had the first of her career. Levin's was her third of the season.
• Jessie Penner led Elon with seven draw controls and two ground balls.

 
IT TAKES 60 (AND SOMETIMES MORE)

• Elon has held a lead in the fourth quarter five times this season, going 3-2 in those contests.
• In a season-opening 12-11 loss to Old Dominion, Elon led 11-10 on a Hannah McCarthy goal with 13:46 to play. ODU tied the game at 7:28 to play and won it on a goal with 5:31 left.
• Elon never trailed against Queens, leading 10-2 at one point and holding a 10-5 lead heading into the fourth.
• Against VCU, Elon led 7-6 going into the fourth. After VCU tied it with 10:42 to go, Elon took an 8-7 advantage on a Cierra Hopson goal with 8:59 left. VCU would tie the game with 3:02 left and then win it in overtime.
• In Elon's last two wins, the Phoenix beat George Mason 14-13 and Coastal Carolina 16-15. Elon rallied to score the final three goals in the George Mason win but never trailed in the fourth quarter against CCU.

 
KEEPING IT EXCITING

• Among Elon's first eight games, four have been decided by one goal. The Phoenix is 2-2 in those contests.
• With four one-goal games, Elon is just one shy of the program record five one-goal games in 2017.  
• The 2017 team went 4-1 in one goal games, which included three one-goal wins over ranked opponents (No. 13 Virginia, No. 19 Virginia Tech and No. 17 Towson).
• The 2016 team played three straight one-goal games, just as this year's team did, picking up wins over Coastal Carolina and Duke, followed by a one-score loss at Vanderbilt.

 
SCORING AT A HIGH RATE

• Elon has scored 96 goals in the team's first six games, an average of 12.0 per contest.
• That average is threatening the 2021 team's average of 12.4 goals per contest, the highest average in a single-season in program history. A year ago, Elon averaged 12.2 goals per game, second-most in program history.
• The Phoenix has not averaged more than 12.0 goals per game in any other season.

 
SOPHOMORE CIERRA SETTING SCORING MARKS

• Cierra Hopson is tied for the Elon lead in 2023 with 19 goals and 28 points, adding a team-best nine assists. In a win over Coastal Carolina earlier this season, she set career marks with five assists and eight points.
• Hopson now has 42 career goals, tied with Kelsey Dupere (2015-18) for 10^th in program history. Molly Garrigan (2014-15) sits ninth with 50 career goals.
• Hopson's 15 assists are tied with Dupere for seventh in school history. Shannon Horan (2016-19) had 21 and is currently sixth.
• Hopson's 57 career points are tied with Dupere and Garrigan for ninth place. She needs six more points to tie former teammate Cate Mackel (2019-22) for eighth.

 
SUPER SAMMY

• Sophomore Sammy Fisher tied the program record with 12 draw controls in the team's victory over Queens. She is averaging 5.13 draw controls per game, fourth in the CAA.
• Fisher tied the program record for a single-game set by former teammate Gillian Curren (and then tied) a year ago. Curren had 12 draw controls against both Campbell and William & Mary.
• With 41 draw controls on the season, Fisher is already fifth in a single-season in program history. She needs 11 more to catch Elle Hvozdovic (52 in 2014) for fourth. Curran holds the program record with 79 draw controls a year ago.
• Fisher's 57 career draw controls are tied for seventh in program history. She needs four more to break into the top five at Elon.

 
TURNING THEM OVER

• Elon set a number of single-game school records in the season-opener 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 forced 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.

 
HACKETT NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

• Elon freshman Anna Hackett was named CAA Rookie of the Week on Feb. 20 after scoring seven goals in two games for the Phoenix. Hackett had three goals in a win over Queens and then followed that up with four goals against VCU. She had four caused turnovers during the two contests as well.

 
ELON AMONG THE CAA LEADERS

• Listed below are Elon's ranks within the CAA through three games:

 
TEAM RANKINGS (TOP THREE)
Shot Percentage – 1. Elon .457
 
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (TOP TEN)
Goals Per Game – t8. Anna Hackett 2.38, t8. Cierra Hopson 2.38
Points Per Game – t7. Cierra Hopson 3.50
Assists Per Game – 7. Cierra Hopson 1.13
Goals Against Average – 8. Chloe Herghelegiu 12.85; 10. Caitlin Walsh 14.27
Saves Per Game – 7. Chloe Herghelgiu 4.86
Save Percentage – 8. Chloe Herghelegiu .354
Ground Balls Per Game – 7. Jessie Penner 2.25
Draw Controls Per Game – 4. Sammy Fisher 5.13
 
ELON AMONG THE NCAA LEADERS

• Listed below are Elon's ranks within the NCAA through three games:

 
TEAM RANKINGS (TOP 25)
Shot Percentage – 23. Elon .457
 
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (TOP 50)
Draw Controls Per Game – 49. Sammy Fisher 5.1
Free Position Goals Per Game – 31. Anna Hackett 0.88
Free Position Percentage – 24. Anna Hackett .700
Points – 43. Cierra Hopson 28
Shot Percentage – 38. Anna Hackett .576
 
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.