ELON, N.C. – After three straight conference games at home, the Elon women’s lacrosse team (8-5, 1-2) plays its first CAA road games of the season this weekend at Drexel (9-5, 2-2) and Hofstra (3-10, 1-3). The Phoenix faces the Dragons in Philadelphia on Friday, April 22, at 7 p.m. before closing on the weekend in Hempstead, N.Y., against the Pride on Sunday, April 24, at noon.
Last Time Out
Two late goals by James Madison powered the Dukes past the Elon, 9-7, in the final home game of the season for the Phoenix on April 15. With the game tied at seven-all, JMU netted a goal with 2:27 remaining and another with just seven ticks left to put the game out of reach for the maroon and gold. The Phoenix finished with 17 shots in the game, went 9-of-10 in clear attempts, claimed six ground balls and five draws. Shelby Scanlin led the maroon and gold with three goals off three shots, including a perfect 2-for-2 in free-position shots, and also tallied three draw controls. Stephanie Asher, Anna Vitton, Shannon Horan and Abby Godfrey all tallied scores for Elon, while Grace Simpson and Sloane Kessler each recorded an assist. Rachel Ramirez posted five saves for the Phoenix in goal to go along with a ground ball and caused turnover.
Scouting the Dragons
After starting conference play 2-0, Drexel dropped its first CAA contest against Towson, 13-6, last week. Nadia Pelham-Lacey leads the team on the season with 46 points after 26 goals and 20 assists. The sophomore is second in the league in assists and assists per game (1.67), ranking 31st and 30th in the nation, respectively. Devin Nihill has tallied the most goals on the year for the Dragons with 30, which is fourth in the CAA, while Emily Duffey has netted 20. Between the pipes, Carlee Ries is 12th in the NCAA in goals-against average, allowing 7.41 goals per game. Duffey, Ries and midfielder Eva Winiarski, who has 35 draw controls and 21 caused turnovers on the year, have all earned CAA weekly honors this season.
The Series
The only previous meeting between Elon and Drexel came last year on April 17, 2015, in conference play. The Dragons claimed a 10-7 win under a cloud of steady rain in Rhodes Stadium.
Scouting the Pride
Hofstra is looking to break its current three-game losing skid against the Phoenix after dropping its last game, 14-13, in overtime to Delaware. The Pride is second in the CAA and 28 in the NCAA in draw controls per game, claiming 12.15 per game. The success at the draw is led by the trio of Carolyn Carrera, Becky Conton and Lindsey Alfano, who rank first, second and fourth, respectively, in the league. Scott has tallied a total of 53 points on the year after 47 goals and six assists to lead the team. She leads the league in both goals and points, while ranking second nationally in goals per game, 12th in goals and 13th in points per game, earning her CAA Player of the Week twice this year.
The Series
Elon and Hofstra have only met once before with the meeting coming in conference play last year. The Pride claimed the win in the only meeting, 10-9, on April 17, 2015, in Rhodes Stadium with a goal in the final minute to keep the game from heading to overtime
RPI Report
In the latest NCAA Women’s Lacrosse RPI released on April 19, Elon ranks 24th out of a total 111 DI women’s lacrosse teams. The Phoenix has played four teams ranked in the top 25, including one win, while six of the seven CAA programs rank in the top 50.
Conference Rankings
At this point in the season, the Phoenix ranks near the top of the Colonial Athletic Association in several statistical categories. The team is third in ground balls (15.23/game) and third in shots (23.54 /game). Stephanie Asher ranks fifth in the league with her 27 goals this year and is sixth in the CAA in scoring with 2.08 goals per game, while Sloane Kessler ranks ninth with her 1.77 goals/game. Asher also ranks first in shots per game with 6.85 and Kessler is fourth in assists with 15 on the season. Goalie Rachel Ramirez is third in saves (5.92/game), first in ground balls (3.00/game) and fourth in caused turnovers (1.46/game).
Next Up
Elon closes out the regular season on the road next weekend at William & Mary on Saturday, April 30. The game is scheduled for noon in Williamsburg, Va.