West Long Branch, N.J. – The Elon women's lacrosse team opens league play Saturday by traveling to New Jersey to face Monmouth at noon. Elon enters the game at 3-4 on the season and Monmouth is 3-5. The two programs have split the only two meetings between them since Monmouth joined the CAA for the 2023 season.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW

• Live stats are available by CLICKING HERE
• The game is scheduled to be broadcast on FloCollege by CLICKING HERE
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  • Twitter - @ElonWLax
  • Instagram - @ElonWLax

 
SCOUTING MONMOUTH

• Monmouth enters the CAA opener Saturday at 3-5 on the season but the Hawks have won two straight. Monmouth defeated Rider 16-8 and Sacred Heart 9-6 to build momentum heading into conference action.
• Monmouth has seen strong goalie play this year and Katie Sullivan is eighth in the country with a .536 save percentage. She is making 11.71 saves per game, fourth-best in the nation.
• Offensively, Monmouth has scored more than 11 goals just one time in 2025. The Hawks rank last in the CAA with just 9.75 goals per game and are eighth in shot percentage (.366) and shots per game (26.63), while committing 15.25 turnovers per contest.
• Head Coach Jordan Trautman has been the head coach at Monmouth since 2018 with a 64-53 career record.  

 
SERIES HISTORY VS. MONMOUTH

• Elon and Monmouth have met twice in program history with both contests taking place since the Hawks joined the CAA for the 2023 season.
• In 2023, Monmouth won a home game 12-11 but Elon answered back at home in 2024 with a 16-13 victory.
• Much like Saturday's contest, both of the first two meetings were the CAA openers the last two years.

 
MJ RETURNS TO THE LINEUP

• Sophomore draw specialist MJ Santa Barbara was named a preseason All-American after bursting onto the scene with a CAA record 151 draw controls a year ago.
• Santa Barbara, though, missed the first six games of the regular season due to injury. She returned Wednesday night against High Point and didn't miss a beat.
• Santa Barbara tied her own single-game program record with 15 draw controls in the contest. She set that mark a year ago in Elon's win over Monmouth. The 15 draw controls are the most in a game by a CAA student-athlete this year (Stony Brook's Isabella Caporuscio is second with 11).
• With Santa Barbara back in the lineup, Elon held a 23-11 advantage in draw controls against High Point for a .676 win percentage. The Phoenix's draw win percentage over the course of the first six games without Santa Barbara was .493.
• The national leader in draw controls per game is Dartmouth's Maya Kendall, averaging 11.83 draw controls per game. The CAA leader is Hofstra's Nikki Mennella at 5.67 per contest.

 
THE RALLY

• Elon posted a miraculous comeback against Coastal Carolina, overcoming a five-goal fourth quarter deficit for a 15-14 overtime win.
• Coastal Carolina scored with 11:34 remaining in the fourth quarter to build a 14-9 lead, but that would be the last goal of the game for the Chanticleers.
• Elon won the ensuing draw and Ana Lee Vandiver scored on a pass from Cierra Hopson 62 seconds later to make it 14-10. Following another draw control victory, Vandiver earned a free position attempt and buried the shot 49 seconds after the previous goal to make it 14-11 with 9:43 to go.
• Coastal Carolina won the next draw and the two teams traded possessions until Addie Gilner drew a free position opportunity. She scored with 5:04 remaining and suddenly the Phoenix was within two.
• Following a media timeout, Vandiver won the draw and scored 37 seconds after Gilner's free position to make it 14-13.
• Coastal won the draw and looked to run clock, earning a free position attempt with 2:56 to play. But Caitlin Walsh made a big save and the Phoenix had possession. Elon missed on two shots in the final minute but with the clock running down, Gilner found Vandiver for a goal with 14 seconds remaining – Vandiver's fifth of the game and fourth in the final 11 minutes.
• In overtime, Sammy Fisher won the draw for the Phoenix and she would score on the first possession of the golden goal period, 62 seconds into play.
• The five-goal comeback equaled Elon's largest in program history, but was the first time the Phoenix rallied from that far back in the second half (not to mention the fourth quarter).

 
LOOKING BACK TO LOOK AHEAD

• Elon went 9-8 in 2024 and posted a 5-3 record in the CAA, qualifying for the CAA Tournament semifinals. That record was a five-win improvement over 2023 both overall and in conference.
• The Phoenix returns seven of its eight leading scorers from a year ago, including Sammy Fisher, who paced Elon with 37 goals and 44 points. She was a preseason All-CAA pick.
• Sophomore Reagan Kuehn is the headliner on defense, earning All-CAA honorable mention status in the preseason. She had 36 ground balls and 24 caused turnovers a year ago.
• MJ Santa Barbara, one of the best in the country in the draw circle, is just a sophomore and earned preseason All-American status by USA Lacrosse. She broke Elon's single-game and single-season draw control record last year, as well as the CAA's single-season draw control mark. Her 8.88 draw controls per game were most in the country for a freshman and ranked No. 7 nationally.

 
PRESEASON AWARDS

• Sophomore MJ Santa Barbara was named honorable mention preseason All-America by USA Lacrosse as a draw control specialist. She is the first Elon player to earn preseason All-America status since Stephanie Asher was named honorable mention All-America by Inside Lacrosse in 2018.
• Senior Sammy Fisher was named to the preseason All-CAA Team as one of five attackers recognized. She led Elon with 37 goals and 44 points, adding 14 ground balls, 16 draw controls and five caused turnovers.
• Sophomore Reagan Kuehn was named honorable mention preseason All-CAA after leading Elon with 36 ground balls and 24 caused turnovers. She added a program record 11 caused turnovers in conference play and had at least one caused turnover in 11 straight games to open her collegiate career.

 
ABOUT THE COACHING STAFF

• Josh Hexter enters his 12^th season at the helm of the Elon lacrosse program in 2025 as the only head coach in the program's history. He is 79-92 in the first 12 years of the program and has a career head coaching mark of 151-134, which includes a 72-42 record in seven seasons at Bridgewater State.
• Assistant Coach Kelly Dowd is in her first season at Elon after two seasons as an assistant at Connecticut. She is a 2017 graduate of Queens University of Charlotte.
• Assistant Coach Katie Brodsky is also in her first season at Elon and most recently served as the lacrosse program head at Seattle Preparatory School. She is a 2023 graduate of Arizona State.

 
INTO THE RECORD BOOKS

• Elon returns three of its top seven goal scorers in program history, along with a wealth of elite statistical talent elsewhere. Listed below are the current student-athletes among the Phoenix's all-time top 10 career leaderboards:

 
Points – t3. Cierra Hopson 120, t3. Sammy Fisher 120, t9. Anna Hackett 71
Goals – 2. Sammy Fisher 101, 4. Cierra Hopson 91, 7. Anna Hackett 64
Assists – t4. Cierra Hopson 29, 8. Sammy Fisher 19, t9. Mia Zebley 17
Shots – 2. Sammy Fisher 239, 3. Cierra Hopson 207, 9. Anna Hackett 139
Free Position Goals – 4. Anna Hackett 22, t9. Cierra Hopson 11, t9. Sammy Fisher 11, t9. Mia Zebley 11
Draw Controls – 2. MJ Santa Barbara 166, 4. Sammy Fisher 121
Saves – 2. Caitlin Walsh 285, 6. Chloe Herghelegiu 73
Save Percentage – 4. Caitlin Walsh .383, 7. Chloe Herghelegiu .324
GAA – 5. Caitlin Walsh 13.27, 7. Chloe Herghelegiu 14.72
Goalie Minutes – 2. Caitlin Walsh 2075:25, 6. Chloe Herghelegiu 619:44
Goalie Wins – 3. Caitlin Walsh 14, t4. Chloe Herghelegiu 4
 
AMONG THE TEAM NATIONAL LEADERS

• Elon ranks among the national top 25 in the following team statistical categories:

 
Fewest Turnovers/Game – 5. 11.33
 
AMONG THE CAA LEADERS

• Elon ranks among the CAA top five in the following team stats and among the top 10 in the following individual stats:

 
Team Rankings
Shots On Goal/Game – 5. 20.29
Woman-Down Goals/Game – 4. 0.14
Woman-Up Goals/Game – 3. 1.71
Goals Against Average – 5. 11.98
Caused Turnovers/Game – 4. 9.29
Fewest Turnovers/Game – 1. 12.29
Draw Controls/Game – 4. 13.57
 
Individual Rankings
Goals/Game – t9. Sammy Fisher 2.71
Shots/Game – 4. Sammy Fisher 6.57
Goals Against Average – 9. Caitlin Walsh 12.34
Save Percentage – 10. Caitlin Walsh .359
Saves/Game – 6. Caitlin Walsh 6.57
Ground Balls/Game – 4. Caitlin Walsh 2.71
Draw Controls/Game – 4. Sammy Fisher 4.86
Caused Turnovers/Game – 4. Reagan Kuehn 2.00, t7. Jessie Penner 1.43