Elon, N.C – After completing a two-game road trip, the 4-3 Elon lacrosse team will play its final non-conference regular season game at home against local rival High Point for a midweek battle on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m on Flood the Rudd night. Bucket hats will be given out to the first 50 students in attendance Wednesday evening.
HOW TO FOLLOW
- Live stats are available by CLICKING HERE
- The game will be broadcasted on FloSports. To watch Wednesday's game, please CLICK HERE
- Follow the official social media accounts of Elon Lacrosse:
- Twitter - @ElonWLax
- Instagram - @ElonWLax
ABOUT HIGH POINT
- High Point is 3-2 on the season, with their only two losses coming to top 25 teams Duke and North Carolina.
- The Panthers went 8-10 a year ago, including a 7-2 record in Big South Conference play.
- High Point was picked second in the Big South Preseason Poll for the 2024 season, behind unanimous preseason favorite Mercer.
- As a team, while they rank No. 92 in the country in shots per game, the Panthers make the most of their opportunities, with a shot percentage of .510, which ranks No. 7 in the nation.
- The Panthers are led by Lyndsey Boswell, who was hired in 2009 as High Point University's first women's lacrosse head coach and has been in charge ever since. Boswell has led the Panthers to 12 conference championships and five straight in the program's first 11 seasons (2011-14, 2017-19, 2021-22) and guided HPU to six NCAA Tournament appearances in 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021.
- Midfielder Kay Rosselli and defender Caitlyn Baehr were tabbed to the preseason all-conference team. Rosselli is a senior captain and was second on the team in points (37), goals (29) and caused turnovers (14), while leading the team in draw controls (42), free position goals (8) and game-winning goals (3) last season. Baher is a junior who led the team in caused turnovers (21) and ground balls (31) while being third in team in draw controls (30) in 2023.
SERIES HISTORY
- Elon and High Point are meeting for the ninth time with the series deadlock at leading 4-4.
- The two programs last faced each other at High Point in 2023 with the Phoenix coming away with a nail biting 9-8 victory.
- In that contest, Kaley Ehnow scored with just 12 seconds remaining to break an 8-8 tie. Elon led most of the way until a four-goal run by High Point midway through the third put the Panthers on top.
- The two teams are 2-2 against each other on Rudd Field.
LAST TIME OUT
- The Elon University women's lacrosse team led 4-1 after the first quarter Wednesday afternoon at Virginia Tech, but the Hokies outscored the Phoenix by seven in the second quarter and went on for a 17-7 win.
- Elon jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first quarter on goals from Mikaela Buoscio, Kailey McKenna, Sammy Fisher, and Ana Lee Vandiver.
- Virginia Tech scored all seven goals of the second quarter to lead 8-4 at the half.
- The Hokies continued to build the lead in the third quarter. Anna Hackett and Fisher both scored in the third quarter, but Virginia Tech led 12-6 going into the fourth.
- Hackett scored her second goal of the game in the fourth, but Virginia Tech outscored the Phoenix 5-1 in the period.
- Hackett, Jessie Penner, Reagan Kuehn, and Bridget Kelly each had two ground balls.
- Freshman Reagan Kuehn added a caused turnover, extending her career-opening seven-game streak with at least one caused turnover.
- MJ Santa Barbara led Elon with seven draw controls. Just a freshman, Santa Barbara climbed from tenth to seventh in career draw controls at Elon with 63.
- Caitlin Walsh had her second consecutive game with 10 saves in goal.
RACKING UP ROOKIE OF THE WEEK AWARDS
- Redshirt freshman Ana Lee Vandiver was named CAA Player of the Week on Feb. 19 after finishing with six goals and an assist for Elon in their comeback win against VCU on Saturday. The six goals were just one shy of the program record.
- Freshman MJ Santa Barbara was named CAA Player of the Week on March 4 after leading a record-breaking night in the draw control circle for the Phoenix. She finished with 10 draw controls, and as a team, helped Elon hold a 22-5 advantage in the draw circle. The +17 difference was the largest in program history.
MJ IN THE DC
- Freshman MJ Santa Barbara has made an immediate positive impact for Elon in the draw circle in 2024.
- Santa Barbara is averaging 9.0 draw controls per game, second most in the CAA and No. 7 in the country.
- Elon holds a .634 win percentage in 2024, currently ranking No. 8 in the country. A year ago, the Phoenix had just a .451 win percentage and Elon has not been above 50 percent since 2021 (.523). Elon's best single-season draw record came in the COVID-shortened 2020 season when the Phoenix had a win rate of .620.
- In the end, winning in the draw circle gets the Phoenix more possessions, more shots, and ultimately more goals. Elon has outshot opponents 202-174 this year and outscored opponents 78-76.
BALANCED OFFENSE
- Twelve different players have scored at least one goal in 2024, already more than the 11 who scored a goal in all of 2023.
- Elon has had seven players lead, or tie for the team lead, in goals scored over the course of the first six games.
- Anna Hackett and Kaitlyn Michaud each scored five goals in the win over Old Dominion, while five players tied with two goals each against Queens – Sammy Fisher, Mia Zebley, Hackett, Cierra Hopson, and Mikaela Buoscio.
- In the win over VCU, Ana Lee Vandiver had a team-high six goals and Hopson posted four in the victory over Furman. Against Coastal, Fisher led the way with a hat trick.
- Against ECU, Fisher led the way again with five goals. At Virginia Tech, Fisher and Hackett led the way with two apiece, and Buoscio, McKenna, and Vandiver each added one goal.
- Hackett leads the way for the Phoenix with 16 goals, with Fisher and Hopson tied for second with 14 goals apiece. Vandiver adds nine, and Michaud, Busocio and McKenna with five each.
CONTROLLING THE CLEAR
- Elon ranks No. 8 in the country in clearing percentage at .936 on the season, ranking first in the CAA.
- The Phoenix has been perfect on clears three times this season -- in games against Old Dominion, Coastal Carolina and East Carolina.
- With the .936 clear percentage (102-of-109), Elon is on pace to break its program record for a single season of .889, set in 2020.
RECORD WATCHING
- Even though the 2024 season has not even reached conference play yet, Elon has some program records in sight.
- MJ Santa Barbara has 63 draw controls through the first seven games of 24. She is just 16 shy of tying the program record of 79 in a single-season. Santa Barbara has already shattered the freshman record for draw controls, which was 52.
- Elon's .936 team clear percentage is on pace to break the program record of .889 in a season, set in 2020.
- Elon's .634 win percentage in the draw circle is pacing ahead of the program record .620 win percentage from 2020.
ELON AMONG THE CAA LEADERS
Listed below are Elon's ranks within the CAA heading into the week:
TEAM RANKINGS (TOP THREE)
- Draw Controls - 2. Elon 15.86/game
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (TOP FIVE)
ELON AMONG THE NCAA LEADERS
Listed below are Elon's ranks within the NCAA through their first seven games:
TEAM RANKINGS (TOP 25)
- Draw Control Percentage - 8. Elon .634
- Draw Controls/Game - 23. Elon 15.86
- Clearing Percentage - 8. Elon .936
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (TOP 25)
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 15th 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.
-- ELON --
