Women's Lacrosse | March 25, 2021

PHILADELPHIA – Lacrosse is set to begin Atlantic play on Friday with an away match to Saint Joseph's. First draw is at 4 p.m. The Blue & Gold then wraps up its road trip with a trip to UMass on Sunday at noon. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
ABOUT THE EXPLORERS

• La Salle is coming off defeat to Drexel and is 2-3 on the season.
• Senior Molly Loughlin had a tough outing against the Dragons, but still holds high positions nationally. Her save percentage of .505 is top in the A-10 and 14th nationally. Her 10.20 saves per game is third in the conference and 15th in the NCAA.
• Senior Bridget Ruskey paces the Explorers in goals (14) and points (16). She also leads the Explorers in draw controls (12), ground balls (10) and is second in caused turnovers (five).
• Her classmate, Priya Kavuru, is the team leader with eight caused turnovers. 
• The top playmaker on the team right now is senior Allison Hunter with five assists. Her point total of nine is third overall, behind Ruskey and classmate Annina Iacobucci.
• As a team, the Blue & Gold ranks third in the conference in clearing percentage (.876) and scoring defense (10.00).
• The Explorers also have kept the fouls to a minimum, pacing the conference in least fouls committed per game (8.8).

SCOUTING THE HAWKS

• Saint Joseph's is 3-4 this campaign, most recently falling to #14 Towson.
• It has been some time since La Salle got the best of the Hawks with its last win coming in 2015.
• Saint Joseph's boasts the conference's top provider to date in senior Stephanie Kelly. Kelly has dished out 15 helpers, while her 34 points also is an A-10 high.
• In net, graduate student Melissa Semkiw has tallied the most saves in the conference with 72 on the season.
• As a unit, the Hawks are second in the conference in save percentage (.514). Semkiw has seen the majority of the minutes over junior Amber Weeden.

SCOUTING THE MINUTEWOMEN

• UMass holds a 5-2 record at this juncture, including a 3-0 mark at home. The team is currently on a four-game winning streak heading into Sunday's match.
• La Salle's last win against the Minutewomen came on April 18, 2010 in Amherst.
• Among the nations's best on the draw is redshirt senior Caitlyn Petro. Her 9.5 draw controls per game rank third in the NCAA. She has three games with double-digit draw controls with a season-high of 16 vs. Holy Cross.
• As a team, UMass leads the conference and is fifth in the country in ground balls per game with 21.57. 
• Expect the Minutewomen to get shots off. They rank fourth fourth in the nation in shots per game (36.14) and third in the shots on goal per game (28.29).
• They additionally rank second in the A-10 in assists per game, cleaning percentage, draw controls per game, (least) fouls per game and points per game. They are third in scoring offense, scoring margin, and (least) turnovers per game.