This Week: Notre Dame College women's lacrosse took a flight to Florida to play two games this week. On March 7, the Falcons will take on No. 15 Flagler College, at 4 p.m. NDC will face No. 2 Florida Southern College, on March 9, at 11 a.m.
Records: Notre Dame has played one game this season, falling 17-2 against No. 7 ranked University of Indianapolis, last Wednesday. Flagler has started the season 3-1, with its only loss coming against No. 5 Grand Valley State, by a score of 14-12. Four of the five teams that Florida Southern has played so for this season have either been ranked in the top 25 or receiving votes, but the Moccasins have a 5-0 record.
Coaches Corner: Ben Morhac enters year number four on the sideline at Notre Dame. He has turned the program around since arriving in South Euclid and has put together a record of 24-13 (16-2 MEC). Grant Kelam's first season at Flagler was 2022, and he led the Saints to an 11-8 mark. Kara Reber has been the head coach of Florida Southern since 2012 and has put together a record of 171-34.
Rankings: Florida Southern is now No. 2 in Division II, according to the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) top 25 poll. Flagler remains at No. 15 in the IWLCA poll.
Series History: NDC has never played Flagler, but they did meet Florida Southern once, in 2012.
Noting the Falcons: In NDC's first game,
Grace Nickoloff and
Joselyn Storm had the Falcons' two goals, while
Megan Dano recorded an assist. Storm also led the team with four draw controls. In goal,
Annika Duncan recorded nine saves in her collegiate debut.
Last season, Storm had 23 goals and 15 assists. Dano led the team, in 2022, with 25 assists.
Noting the Saints: Flagler was scheduled to host Concordia St-Paul, on March 4, but the game was postponed. They have not competed against another team since Feb. 20, which was a 17-7 victory against Lincoln Memorial. In that game, Lexie Morton totaled four goals and Katelyn Trainor put three shots in the back of the net. Back on Feb. 11, Flagler defeated No. 16 Embry-Riddle, 16-11, at home.
This season, Flagler has four players (Lexie Morton, Jessica Wright, Katelyn Trainor, Carley Tepel) who have scored at least eight goals. Morton missed a game, but she still leads the team with 14 goals, over three contests. Wright has nine goals and leads the team with three assists. As a team, FC only has 15 total assists. Greta McGinnis (15), Ella Pinder (15), Carly LaFerriere (14) and Katelyn Trainor (11) all have won double-digit draw controls. Lauren Ribadeneira has started four games in goal and has made 26 saves.
Noting the Moccasins: Florida Southern played back-to-back days last weekend. The Mocs defeated Lee University, 15-9, on March 6, and then took down the University of Alabama-Huntsville, 20-14, on March 5. FSC had balanced scoring, but Hailey Daleo led the way with four goals. Rylie Rittberg stopped eight shots. Florida Southern took a 7-3 lead after one quarter against Alabama-Huntsville. Madison Tare had six goals and Ellie Griffin won eight draw controls. FSC took 11 shots on goal in the first quarter.
Hailey Daleo leads the team with 13 goals, while Jackie Stoller has totaled 12 goals and 11 assists. Gina Verrone has won 28 draw controls. Giana Murphy (12 goals), Lizzy Lynch (11), Abby McFerren (10) all have reached double-digit goals, already. Rylie Rittberg (five appearances, two starts) and McKenzie Gaghan (three starts) have split time in goal.
