ELON – The Elon women's lacrosse team (3-3) begins CAA play Saturday against Hofstra (4-4) on Long Island. Opening draw is scheduled for noon.

Elon vs. Hofstra Briefing
Game Details: March 14, 2026 | Hempstead, N.Y. | James M. Shuart Stadium | 12 p.m. 
Admission: Buy tickets
Watch: FloCollege
Live Scoring: StatBroadcast 
Elon Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats | Numbers To Know 
Hofstra Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats 
 
The Matchup

• Hofstra holds a narrow 5-4 lead in the head-to-head against the Phoenix.
• Elon defeated Hofstra, 14-12, at Rudd Field last season. Sammy Fisher and Ana Lee Vandiver paced the Phoenix with four goals each with Danielle Swietoniowski also netting a hat trick.
• Prior to Elon's win last season, the Pride had won four straight games in the series.
• Hofstra won the last meeting between the teams in Hempstead, 17-7, in 2024. Elon has lost two straight games to the Pride on Long Island, with the last victory coming in 2018.

 
About The Phoenix

• Elon was tabbed to finish fourth in the CAA preseason poll behind just Stony Brook, Drexel and Towson.
• Elon is 3-3 this season with wins over Queens, Old Dominion and High Point.  
• Five Phoenix have reached double-digit points on the season – Ana Lee Vandiver (17), Anna Hackett (16), Danielle Swietoniowski (12), Lizzie Scalzo (11) and Lillian Austin (10).
• MJ Santa Barbara ranks third in the CAA with five draw controls per game.
• Reagan Kuehn is pacing the Phoenix defense and ranks top 10 in the CAA in both ground balls per game (2.67) and caused turnovers per game (1.50).
• Caitlin Walsh has anchored Elon's net this season, starting all six games. She has made 41 saves and is coming off a season-best 11 stops against No. 11 Notre Dame.
• Elon is led by head coach Josh Hexter, who is in his 13th season with the program. He has guided the Phoenix since its inaugural campaign in 2014 and is up to 90 wins leading the maroon and gold. 

 
Last Time Out

• Elon dropped its first home game of the season Tuesday, falling to No. 11 Notre Dame, 16-5, at Rudd Field.
• The Phoenix held the Fighting Irish to just six first-half goals and trailed by only three at halftime.
• Five different Phoenix scored a goal, with Swietoniowski leading the Phoenix with two points (1g, 1a).
• Mackenzie Coleman and Maddie Engelkraut both netted their third goal of the season.
• Notre Dame outshot the Phoenix, 38-12, with all 12 Elon shots finding the target.
• Walsh made a season-best 11 saves in goal while also scooping a team-best four ground balls.
• The Phoenix has now lost both its games against ACC opponents this season.

 
Hack Is Back

• After missing the 2025 campaign due to injury, Hackett made her return to the field on Feb. 11 against Queens.
• In her first appearance since April 14, 2024, Hackett started in Elon's midfield and finished with two goals and four points against the Royals.
• Hackett notched hat tricks in four straight games against Old Dominion, East Carolina, Virginia Tech and High Point. She led the Phoenix in goals in three of those four contests.
• The streak of hat tricks was Hackett's longest since she had five in a row in her freshman season.
• Hackett's 16 points are the second most on the Phoenix this season. She leads Elon's offense with 24 shot attempts.
• The redshirt junior is up to 87 career points and is currently tied with Vandiver for sixth in program history.
• Hackett's 14 goals this season have also moved her up to sixth in program history in career goals (78). She is just five behind Mae McGlynn for the fifth most.
• With 2.33 goals per game, Hackett currently ranks sixth among CAA scorers.

 
Sophomore Scoring Duo

• Austin and Swietoniowski are both building on strong rookie campaigns in their sophomore seasons this spring.
• Austin's 15 points in CAA play last season were tied for the third most by an Elon freshman in a single season, while Swietoniowski was close behind with 13 points in conference games.
• Austin and Swietoniowski both registered six assists in CAA play, tied for the third most in a conference season by freshmen in program history.
• Both Swietoniowski (22) and Austin (21) surpassed 20 points in their freshman seasons and were two of seven Phoenix to do so in 2025.
• Swietoniowski is third on the Phoenix this season with nine goals is the only Elon player to score in all six games this season. The sophomore netted a hat trick in a win against Old Dominion on Feb. 14.
• Three of Swietoniowski's goals have come on free position shots, which is tied with Hackett and Vandiver for the most on the Phoenix.
• Austin has seven goals in the last five games, scoring in every game she has appeared in this season. The sophomore has multiple points in four games this season.

 
Ana Lee-ding The Way

• Vandiver leads the Phoenix offense with 17 points (12g, 5a) this season.
• The redshirt junior had her best scoring outing of the season against High Point on March 5, netting five goals, one shy of her career best.  
• The five goals against the Panthers tied Scalzo for the most by a Phoenix in a game this season.
• Vandiver's five assists this season are the most on the Phoenix. She has at least one helper in four of six games.
• Vandiver has hat tricks in three games this season, all games Elon won. The Phoenix has not won a game this season in which Vandiver has not netted a hat trick.
• With her goal against Notre Dame on Tuesday, Vandiver is up to 87 career points and is tied with Hackett for sixth all-time in program history.

 
Chaos Coordinators

• Elon's defensive corps of Kuehn, Eliza Ritter, Mimi Economus and Jessie Penner have wreaked havoc on opposing offenses this season.
• Kuehn leads the Phoenix with nine caused turnovers, with Penner (6) and Ritter (6) tied for second on the team. Four of Ritter's forced turnovers came in the victory against Old Dominion on Feb. 14, while Kuehn has forced multiple turnovers in four of Elon's six games this season.
• Kuehn is pacing the Phoenix with 16 ground balls. Economus and Ritter both have seven ground balls.
• Kuehn surpassed 50 career caused turnovers against East Carolina and is now fourth in program history in the stat (56).  
• Kuehn has also moved up Elon's all-time ranks in ground balls, as she is now fifth in program history with 84 in two-plus seasons.
• With her seven ground balls this season, Economus has already surpassed her career high. The senior's four ground balls against East Carolina on Feb. 21 were a career best.
• Penner has caused six turnovers to go along with five ground balls this season. The senior is up to 46 career caused turnovers, the eighth most in Phoenix history.

 
MJ The History Maker

• Entering her junior season, Santa Barbara was already Elon's all-time leader in career draw controls and has re-written the Phoenix record books in several categories.
• With 290 career draw controls in her 34 career games, Santa Barbara is 95 clear of second place in program history. She has the top two single season draw control totals in program history with 151 in 2024 and 109 in 2025.
• She has also set the top two marks in program history for draw controls in a conference season, with 73 in CAA games in 2024 and 72 in 2025. The next highest total in a season is 35.
• With Santa Barbara on the draw, Elon has set new team records for draw controls in a season. The Phoenix secured a program-record 145 draw controls in 2024, Santa Barbara's freshman campaign, before accruing 127 in 2025, Santa Barbara's sophomore campaign. Those are the top two totals in program history, smashing the previous record of 79 set in 2022.
• Santa Barbara has also turned in the top-five single game draw control efforts in program history, highlighted by her program-best 16 last season against Queens.
• Santa Barbara's 9.29 career draw controls per game were the third most in NCAA history entering this season.
• Santa Barbara has secured double-digit draw controls in 14-of-34 career games.
• The junior is third in the CAA with five draw controls per game this season.
• In addition to her prowess in the draw circle, Santa Barbara has become a steady scoring threat in 2026. The junior scored a goal in each of Elon's first four games this season, the longest goal-scoring streak of her career. 

Scalzo's Sensational Debut

• Freshman Lizzie Scalzo tied for a game-high five goals in her collegiate debut on Feb. 11 against Queens. The freshman scored a first-half hat trick before scoring two more goals, including the game winner, after the break.
• Scalzo became the first Elon freshman to score five goals in her debut game since Stephanie Asher also scored five on Jan. 31, 2015, against Kennesaw State.
• The five goals by the rookie were also the most by any Phoenix freshman in a game since Vandiver had six against VCU on Feb. 17, 2024, as a redshirt freshman and the most by an Elon true freshman since Margaret Stephan netted five against Radford on March 7, 2021.
• Scalzo scored on five of her six shot attempts against the Royals, with all six shots being on target. She also scored the first free position goal of her career in the win.
• The attacker is fourth on the Phoenix in points (11) and has two multi-point efforts since debuting against Queens, including a three-point game in Elon's versus against High Point.

 
Scouting Hofstra

• Hofstra is 4-4 this season with a 2-2 mark on its home field.
• The Pride rolled past Wagner, 18-1, in its most recent outing on March 7. Hofstra outshot Wagner, 31-6.
• Prior to facing Wagner, Hofstra hosted No. 3 Maryland on March 4, losing 16-9. The Pride also hosted Rutgers on Feb. 28.
• Hofstra has the No. 4 scoring offense in the CAA with 11.63 goals per game.
• Nikki Mennella leads the CAA with 28 goals and is tied with Monmouth's Lauren Rismani for a conference-best 39 points. Mennella has multiple goals in every game this season, twice scoring six goals against Manhattan and Marist.
• Shannon Steck (15), Natalie DeMeo (12) and Kayleigh Bender (11) also have double-digit goals on the campaign.
• Christine Dannenfelser leads the Pride and ranks No. 5 in the CAA with 3.5 caused turnovers per game. Elvin Terzloglu also ranks top 10 in the conference in caused turnovers per game (1.38).
• Dannenfelser is also pacing Hofstra with 16 ground balls this season.
• Madeleine Rudolph has 41 draw controls to lead the Pride in the circle, with Mennella (31) and Dannenfelser (20) close behind.
• Luchianna Cardello has started all eight games in goal for Hofstra this season. She has made 51 saves and has a .425 save percentage.
• Shannon Smith is in her 14th season as Hofstra's head coach.

 
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