Elon WLAX Travels to Florida to Face Former Conference Teams

ELON, N.C. – The Elon women’s lacrosse team (2-1) travels south to Florida to face a pair of former Atlantic Sun opponents in Jacksonville (1-1) and Stetson (1-1) this weekend. The Phoenix plays the Dolphins on Friday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. in Jacksonville, Fla., before closing out the trip on Sunday, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m. against the Hatters in DeLand, Fla.

Looking Back
Trailing 3-0 to start its last game at Longwood, Elon rebounded to even the score, five-all, at the break before claiming a 10-7 win over the Lancers. The Phoenix outshot LU, 26-22, and claimed a 22-17 advantage in ground balls. Stephanie Asher scored a game-high four goals, along with five ground balls, two caused turnovers and one draw control. Nicole Sinacori netted two goals in the game, while Kelsey Dupere, Molly Garrigan, Anna Vitton and Jacie Cooper all contributed one goal and Sloane Kessler tallied three assists.

Scouting the Dolphins
Jacksonville is 1-1 on the season, rebounding with a win over Central Connecticut State, 22-4, last Saturday after dropping a 17-8 game against Florida on Feb. 11. The Dolphins are the reigning two-time A-Sun champions and were voted by the league coaches to repeat as the 2015 champs. Taylor McCord, a senior attack, was selected as the A-Sun Preseason Player of the Year, while Brittney Orashen, Sam Bauer, Kristin Ridenour and Hannah Wilcox were also preseason selections. Sophomore Danielle Dellarocca leads the team with 12 points so far this season after a team-high seven goals and five assists, while McCord has six goals on the season and one assist.

Scouting the Hatters
After a 15-4 loss to Coastal Carolina on Feb. 14, Stetson rebounded on Wednesday with a 16-3 win over Delaware State with the help of three goals by Rachel Valocchi and Samantha Akl. So far this season, Jill Chiachetti leads the team with four goals, while Valocchi and Hallie Merz have each tallied five points. The Hatters are coached by first-year head coach Christy Leach and has 17 returning letterwinner, along with eight newcomers.

Series Information
Elon closed out its A-Sun regular season last year with the same trip to Florida to play the Dolphins and the Hatters. The Phoenix claimed an 18-6 victory over the Hatters before a 17-4 setback against the Dolphins.

Stetson Connections
When the Phoenix takes on the Hatters on Sunday, Elon assistant coach Brittany Dipper will be in a familiar place. Dipper served in the same role for two seasons at Stetson, including time as the interim head coach the last month of the 2014 season, before her arrival at Elon over the summer.

Elon’s Native Floridians
Elon has two Floridians on its roster that will be close to home this weekend in sophomores Jane Ruede and Brighton Summers. Ruede is from St. Johns, Fla., in the Jacksonville area, while Summers hails from Marco Island, Fla.

Rookie of the Week
The CAA announced its first weekly awards of the season on Feb. 17 and named freshman Stephanie Asher the women’s lacrosse Rookie of the Week. Asher leads Elon with 11 goals on the season, averaging 3.6 goals per game, while also handing out one assist. The freshman has tallied at least two goals in every game and owns a 55.0 shot percentage and a 90.0 shot-on-goal percentage. The Glenelg, Md., native has also picked up six ground balls (2.0/game), claimed six draw controls (2.0/game) and has three caused turnovers (1.0/game).

Next Up
While it won’t be on its home field, Elon returns close to home next week for its next game. The Phoenix takes on No. 2 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Sunday, March 1, at 1 p.m.