Elon, N.C. – The Elon lacrosse team (4-9, 0-4 CAA) hosts Hofstra (3-10, 0-4 CAA) Saturday at noon at Rudd Field as the regular season begins the home stretch. Each team is looking to get into the conference win column for the first time in 2023.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW

• The broadcast of the game is available by CLICKING HERE.
• Live stats are available by CLICKING HERE.
• Follow the official social media accounts of Elon Lacrosse:
  • Twitter - @ElonWLax
  • Instagram - @ElonWLax

 
ABOUT HOFSTRA

• Hofstra enters Saturday's game at 3-10 overall and 0-4 in the CAA. The Pride has lost six straight but all of those defeats were by three goals or less, including four contests decided by just one score.
• Hofstra allows just 11.2 goals per game and does not turn the ball over often, just 14.2 per contest. The Pride, though, causes only 6.2 turnovers per contest and has a shot percentage of just 38.5 percent.
• Individually, Katie Kelly has a shot perentage of .583, 19^th in the country. Taylor Mannella has recorded 21 assists and Luchianna Cardello had a .458 save percentage in goal.
• Head Coach Shannon Smith is in her 11^th year leading the program. A three-time First Team All-American at Northwestern, Smith has 83 career wins as a head coach. The program's high-water mark with a 12-7 campaign in 2019.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Elon and Hofstra have split six meetings all-time with the Pride winning the last two contests, in 2022 and 2019.
• Elon won in three consecutive seasons from 2016-18, posting victory margins of at least four goals in each of those meetings.
• Hofstra won 18-12 a year ago and defeated Elon 10-6 the last time the two teams squared off on Rudd Field, in 2019.

 
LAST TIME OUT

• Drexel scored six consecutive first-half goals to pull away from Elon in a 12-5 victory last Friday.
• Catherine Merritt scored two goals and Caitlin Walsh made nine saves in goal.
• For Walsh, it was her fifth consecutive game with at least nine saves.
• Elon was 17-for-17 on clear attempts and had four fewer turnovers than Drexel.

 
IT TAKES 60 (AND SOMETIMES MORE)

• Elon has held a lead in the fourth quarter seven times this season, going 4-3 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 two road victories, 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.
• In the team's 9-8 win at High Point, Elon led in the fourth quarter for only the final 12 seconds after Kaley Ehnow's goal put the Phoenix ahead for good.
• In the loss to Monmouth, Elon led 10-9 and 11-10 in the fourth quarter, but Monmouth tied the game with 4:22 to play and scored the game-winner 26 seconds later.

 
DOWN TO THE WIRE

• Among Elon's 13 games, six have been decided by one goal. The Phoenix is 3-3 in those contests.
• With six one-goal games, Elon has already broken the program record of five one-goal games, set 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.

 
SOPHOMORE CIERRA SETTING SCORING MARKS

• Cierra Hopson leads Elon with 38 points in 2023, tied for the team-high with 28 goals and adding a team-high 10 assists. In a win over Coastal Carolina earlier this season, she had a career-high eight points. She had a career-best seven goals last week at Towson.
• Hopson now has 51 career goals, tied for eighth-most in program history. Nicole Sinacori (2015-18) is next on the list with 59 goals.
• Hopson's 16 assists are seventh in school history. Shannon Horan (2016-19) had 21 and is currently sixth.
• Hopson's 67 career points rank eighth. She needs four more points to tie former teammate Anna Vitton (2014-17) for seventh. Abby Godfrey (2015-18) sits in sixth with 72 career points.

 
HACKETT MAKING IT LOOK EASY

• Just a freshman, Anna Hackett recorded a program-record five consecutive hat tricks before being held to just two goals against No. 6 Stony Brook. She leads the team with 29 goals and has scored at least three goals seven times.
• Hackett's five-game run of three-or-more goals began with three goals and an assist against Virginia on March 5 and concluded with three goals against Monmouth on March 18. She has scored at least one goal in 11 of the team's 12 games.
• Hackett is tied with Olivia Fernandez (2014) for fifth in goals scored in program history among freshmen. She needs four more to tie Anna Vitton (2014) and Kaley Thompson (2019) for third. Stephanie Asher scored a freshman program-record 44 goals in 2015.
• Hackett's 29 goals are tenth-most among freshmen at the NCAA Division I level this year and the most in the CAA.

 
Freshman Goal Leaders (NCAA Division I)
1 – Camryn Callaghan (Cincinnati), 50
2 – Brigid Duffy (Army), 47
3 – Madison Taylor (Northwestern), 36
T4 – Kori Edmondson (Maryland), 34
T4 – Lol Mancuso (Xavier), 34
6 – Marissa White (North Carolina), 33
7 – Ava Yovino (Navy), 32
T8 – Mackenzie Blackwell (Eastern Michigan), 30
T8 – Sofia Chepenik (Clemson), 30
10 – Anna Hackett (Elon), 29
 
SUPER SAMMY

• Sophomore Sammy Fisher tied the program record with 12 draw controls in the team's victory over Queens.
• 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 50 draw controls on the season, Fisher is fifth in a single-season in program history. She needs two more to catch Elle Hvozdovic (52 in 2014) for fourth. Curran holds the program record with 79 draw controls a year ago.
• Fisher's 66 career draw controls are fifth in program history. Shannon Horan sits fourth with 67 from 2016-19.

 
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 ten games:

 
TEAM RANKINGS (TOP THREE)
Shot Percentage – 2. Elon .432
 
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (TOP TEN)
Goals Per Game – 8. Anna Hackett 2.23
Points Per Game – 9. Cierra Hopson 2.92
Goals Against Average – 9. Chloe Herghelegiu 12.85, 10. Caitlin Walsh 13.61
Save Percentage – 7. Caitlin Walsh .400
Saves Per Game – 6. Caitlin Walsh 6.73, 8. Chloe Herghelgiu 4.86
Draw Controls Per Game – 9. Sammy Fisher 3.85
 
ELON AMONG THE NCAA LEADERS

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

 
TEAM RANKINGS (TOP 50)
Clearing Percentage – 38. Elon .877
Free-Position Percentage – 22. Elon .493
Shot Percentage – 49. Elon .432
 
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (TOP 50)
Free Position Goals Per Game – 39. Anna Hackett 0.77
Free Position Percentage – 22. Anna Hackett .625
Shot Percentage – 39. Anna Hackett .547
 
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.