ELON, N.C – After beginning last season with three straight home contests, the Elon lacrosse team continues its three-game road trip to open up the 2024 campaign. For the second straight year, the Phoenix will take on second-year NCAA Division I program Queens in the second contest of the season. This time, Elon will travel to Charlotte, N.C. on Wednesday to take on the Royals at 5:00 p.m.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW

• Live stats are available by CLICKING HERE
• The game will be broadcasted via the Queens Sports Network. 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 second season at the NCAA Division I level and is playing as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
• The Royals opened their season with a 15-12 road loss against East Carolina.
• Second-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. She is the fifth head coach in the Royals' program history.
• Queens went 21-1 in 2022, their last season 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 went 59-6 at the NCAA Division II level.
• Queens outshot East Carolina 33-27 and held the edge in shots-on-goal 27-24.

SERIES HISTORY

• This will be the second ever meeting between Elon and Queens. The first came last year, when the Phoenix came out on top 13-9.
• Sammy Fisher tied her career-high with four goals and tied a program-record with 12 draw controls in the victory.
• Anna Hackett recorded the first of her eight career hat tricks in the win.

 
LAST TIME OUT

• Elon opened the 2024 season in dominant fashion, never trailing in a 16-6 win on the road against Old Dominion Saturday. The victory avenges a 12-11 defeat to the Monarchs in the 2023 season opener.
• The victory was Elon's first in a season-opener since beating Campbell 13-9 in the 2021 opener.
• The margin of victory and the 16 goals scored were both the most in a season opener since a 24-8 win over Kennesaw State to begin the 2015 season.
• Freshman MJ Santa Barbara tied the program record with 12 draw controls in one game and added her first career goal.
• Kaitlyn Michaud and Anna Hackett scored five goals each in the contest.
• Caitlin Walsh got her first win in goal of the season, making five saves.
• Elon outshot Old Dominion by a staggering 34-12.
• Six different players scored at least one goal for the Phoenix.

2-0?

• If Elon is able to earn a win Wednesday night at Queens, it would be the Phoenix's first 2-0 start since opening the 2021 season with eight consecutive victories.
• Elon has also opened seasons with at least two straight victories three times in the 10-year history of the program. Along with 2021, the 2016 and 2017 teams both began the year 4-0.

MAGNIFICENT MICHAUD

• Kaitlyn Michaud scored five goals in the contest, surpassing her previous career-best of two goals in a game, with all of her goals coming in the first three quarters.
• In the first quarter, Michaud scored the first goal of the season for Elon less than three minutes into the game.
• With the game tied 1-1, Michaud added her second goal of the game just under 10 minutes into the game to give the Phoenix a 2-1 lead. Elon never looked back and led for the remainder of the game.

ELON AMONG THE CAA LEADERS

• Through the opening weekend of action, Elon leads the CAA in shots-on-goal and is second on ground balls and caused turnovers, while MJ Santa Barbara is first in the conference in draw controls. Elon's rankings among the CAA are listed below.

TEAM RANKINGS (TOP THREE)
Shots on Goal – 1. Elon 31.0/game
Goals – 2. Elon 16.0/game
Shots – 3. Elon 34.0/game
Ground Balls - 2. Elon 16.0/game
Caused Turnovers - 2. Elon 12.0/game
Draw Controls - 2. Elon 19.0/game

INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (TOP FIVE)
Goals – t2. Kaitlyn Michaud 5.0/game; t2. Anna Hackett 5.0/game
Points – 4. Anna Hackett 6.0/game
Assists – t3. Mia Zebley 2.0/game
Shots - 2. Anna Hackett 11.0/game
Ground Balls – t3. Kailee Follette 3.0/game; t3. Sammy Fisher 3.0/game
Caused Turnovers – t2. Kailee Follette 2.0/game; t2. Anna Hackett 2.0/game
Draw Controls - 1. MJ Santa Barbara 12.0/game

HACKETT EARNS CAA PRESEASON RECOGNITION

• Sophomore midfielder Anna Hackett was named to the 2024 CAA Women's Lacrosse Preseason All-Conference honorable mention team.
• Hackett played in all 16 games a year ago, starting each game. She finished second on the team with 32 goals and 34 points.
• She also set a program record by scoring hat tricks in five straight games during one stretch, ending the year with seven total games of three goals or more.
• Hackett ranked 15^th nationally with a .625 free-position conversion rate (10-of-16) and was No. 67 in the country with a shot percentage of .508
• Hackett's 10 free-position goals were tied for second most in program history by a freshman and her 32 goals were fifth-most by a rookie.

TEAM CAPTAINS NAMED

• Head Coach Josh Hexter has named seniors Mikaela Buoscio, Kailee Follette, and Alex Belveal, along with junior Cierra Hopson as captains for the 2024 season.
• Buoscio is going into her third straight season as a captain. In 2023, Buoscio led the team with 15 caused turnovers and was fifth with 17 ground balls, and also had seven draw controls. She also tied the program record with seven caused turnovers in last year's season opener against Old Dominion. On the offensive side, she finished the year with four goals with nine shots on goal.
• Follette will be a team captain for the second consecutive season. She was tied for the team lead with 27 ground balls, adding 17 draw controls and seven caused turnovers in 2023.
• Belveal will be a first time captain after stepping into a bigger role in the 2023 season, playing and starting in all 16 games. She had 10 ground balls and six caused turnovers, committing just three turnovers on the season.
• Hopson played and started in all 16 games in 2023. She led the team with 34 goals, 11 assists and 45 points. She also had a team-high 74 shots and 56 shots on goal.

 
NEWCOMERS

• Elon welcomes 13 freshmen to the 2024 team, including four attackers, five midfielders, three defenders, and one goalie.