WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary lacrosse team will play on the road for the third time in its opening four games when it squares off against Longwood on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The game will be broadcast on
ESPN3, while
live stats will be available at LongwoodLancers.com.
In accordance with health and safety recommendations from local and state health agencies and the NCAA, Longwood athletics continues its policy prohibiting fan attendance at home athletics events for all sports this spring.
A Look at the Tribe
W&M enters Saturday's contest with a 1-2 record, although both losses have come against nationally ranked opponents. The Tribe currently ranks third in the CAA in draw controls per game (14.0) and shooting percentage (.458).
Individually,
Belle Martire ranks sixth in the conference in goals per game (3.33) and seventh in points per game (4.0). Additionally, her 2.33 free position goals per game ranks third nationally, while her .667 shooting percentage ranks 22nd .
Defensively, freshman
Courtney Vasquenza has made an immediate impact and ranks fourth in the CAA and 24th in the country with 2.33 caused turnovers per game, while goalie
Elsa Rall ranks 14th nationally with 10.0 saves per game.
Scouting Longwood
Longwood is looking for its first win this season after dropping its opening four games. Two of those setbacks have come against common opponents with W&M, as the Lancers were edged by Old Dominion, 14-13, and fell to Richmond, 19-3, in its last outing.
Emma Johnson leads LU with eight goals, while Taylor Blenckstone has posted a team-high nine assists, a figure that ranks seventh nationally. Goalie Kylee Wright ranks fourth nationally with 12.0 saves per game.
| Matchup At A Glance |
|
W&M / Opp. |
LU / Opp. |
| Goals Avg. |
12.7 / 16.3 |
6.75 / 17.75 |
| Shooting % |
.458 / .495 |
.375 / .444 |
| Assists |
9 / 19 |
13 / 21 |
| Ground Balls |
56 / 58 |
57 / 84 |
| Draw Controls |
42 / 50 |
31 / 75 |
| Turnovers |
52 / 41 |
58 / 47 |
| Caused Turnovers |
25 / 27 |
25 / 38 |
W&M-Longwood All-Time Series
W&M leads the all-time series against Longwood, 18-2, and has won by an average margin of 14.3 goals per contest in its last 12 victories versus the Lancers.
Last Meeting vs. Longwood
W&M cruised to an impressive 13-5 victory at Longwood on March 9, 2019. W&M owned a commanding 8-1 lead at halftime and extended the margin to as many as eight goals in the second half. Belle led the Tribe with seven points (6g, 1a), while
Meredith Hughes also came up big with four goals on five shots.
Lauren Russell added a pair of goals with three draw controls, while
Starr Howard posted a game-high seven draw controls.
Elsa Rall was outstanding in the cage and recorded seven saves and a .583 save percentage.
Versus the Big South
W&M owns a 21-3 all-time record versus teams currently in the Big South. W&M controls the all-time series against Longwood (18-2) and Gardner-Webb (2-0), while it is 1-1 versus Winthrop. The Tribe has never played Campbell, High Point, Presbyterian or Radford. The Tribe will play Campbell and Liberty later in March.
Last Time Out
W&M team led No. 18/19 Richmond in the second half but was edged by the Spiders, 14-11, in its home opener at Busch Turf last Saturday. While UR jumped out to a 5-2 lead midway through the opening stanza, W&M held the Spiders scoreless for a span of nearly 20 minutes to take a one-goal advantage with 24:57 remaining. After the Spiders pulled ahead with a 4-0 run, W&M narrowed the gap to two, 13-11, with 1:56 remaining after
Kathleen Cozzi and
Sophie Kopec found the back of the cage but was unable to get any closer down the stretch.
Record-Setting Performance
Belle Martire equaled her own single-game school record with 10 points and nearly matched her own single-game record with eight goals in the Tribe's 19-11 victory at Old Dominion earlier this season.
Among W&M's All-Time Best
Goalie
Elsa Rall currently ranks fifth on the Tribe's all-time saves list with 416 career stops. She needs 32 more to move into a tie for fourth with Vikki Bovoso (1980-82), who finished her career with 448 stops.
Starr Howard also ranks among the Tribe's best in draw controls and ranks eight all-time with 96. She needs 13 more to move into a tie for seventh with Morgan Lang (2003-06), who finished her career with 109 DC.
Captains
W&M is led by a quintet of senior captains this season –
Elsa Rall,
Audrey Hoeg,
Sophie Kopec,
Anne Milwicz and
Devon Fleischmann. All five captains have distinguished themselves as outstanding leaders both on and off the field throughout their careers.
Up Next
Following Saturday's game at Longwood, W&M will return to action when it hosts Liberty next Saturday at 2 p.m.
