QU Women's Lacrosse Senior Day Slated for Sunday Against Niagara

Quinnipiac Bobcats (4-11, 3-4 MAAC) vs.
Niagara Purple Eagles (7-8, 4-2 MAAC)
Sunday, April 23, 2017 – 12:00 PM
Reese Stadium – New Haven, CT
All-Time Series vs. Niagara: Niagara leads 3-2
Last Meeting: L, 11-6 (2016 – Niagara Univ., N.Y.)

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Live Stats: QuinnipiacBobcats.com
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Fresh off one the most significant victories for the Quinnipiac women's lacrosse team in recent memory, the Bobcats head into Senior Day flying high after a MAAC Tournament clinching 11-10 victory over Siena at home on Wednesday night. The Bobcats' historical victory over the Saints clinched the program's first-ever trip to the postseason as a member of the MAAC. Quinnipiac honors its six seniors – Alex Hlesciak, Charlotte Morley, Audrey Samuelman, Danielle La Rocca, Michele Merwin and Kelsey Mumford – prior to the start of Sunday's game against the Niagara Purple Eagles which is set to begin at 12 PM.

LAST GAME
With both teams fighting for playoff contention, Quinnipiac and Siena locked up in a game that featured five ties and six lead changes. With the score tied at 9-9 with just over 11 minutes remaining, Quinnipiac rattled off a pair of goals, first from Allison Kuhn on a free position followed by the Bobinski twin sisters linking up for the ultimate game-winner scored by Victoria with 7:40 remaining. Kyle Larkin played big the entire game, posting 13 saves including two in the final 10-minute sequence with the game on the line and her team preserving a two-goal advantage. Kuhn led the way offensively with six points including a career high three assists while eight Bobcats tallied at least one goal in the victory. The win secured a berth into the MAAC Tournament for the first time in program history.

SCOUTING THE PURPLE EAGLES
Niagara has been up-and-down for the majority of the season with the Purple Eagles coming in having played some of their best ball of 2017. Having rattled off three straight wins before a 9-7 loss to Marist on Wednesday, Niagara vaulted themselves into a MAAC Tournament berth with a chance currently at earning the No. 3 seed and home field in the quarterfinal round on Saturday, April 29. Prior to the three-game uptick, Niagara had lost three straight and five overall in a six-game span. The third-highest scoring team in the MAAC (11.50 goals per game in six MAAC contests), Niagara relies on the MAAC's third-leading scorer in Rachel MacCheyne who comes in with 56 points on 44 goals and 12 assists. Grace Hunt initiates the Niagara offense with her passing as she comes in with 44 points on 12 goals and 32 assists. Hunt has the second-most assists of any player in the MAAC. Alexis Morales (36), Caroline Crump (21) and Jillian Ford (20) all come in with 20+ goals through 15 games played as Niagara has great topline scoring to pair with several steady contributors. Andrea Francisco is the primary goalkeeper for the Purple Eagles as she comes in with solid all-around numbers including a .485 save percentage, 11.33 goals-against average and 7-8 record. Alexandra Higgins is one of the top shutdown defenders in the MAAC as she comes in with 51 ground balls, 32 caused turnovers and 81 draw controls through 15 games. Higgins ranks second in the MAAC in ground balls (3.40) and draw controls (5.40) per game.

SERIES HISTORY
Niagara and Quinnipiac have squared off four times in the series history and just twice before the Bobcats entered the MAAC in 2014. Quinnipiac comes in with a 2-3 all-time record against the Purple Eagles as both victories came back in the early 2000s starting with a 12-9 victory on March 14, 2000 as well as a 13-7 win on March 9, 2002, both wins for the Bobcats came in Hamden. A slow start cost the Bobcats in last year's contest as Niagara jumped out to a four-goal halftime advantage before pulling away with the 11-6 victory.

MAAC TOURNAMENT BOUND
Quinnipiac made history on Wednesday night, clinching a MAAC Tournament berth for the first time in program history with an 11-10 win over Siena (4/19). After recording just four wins in their first three seasons in the MAAC (including just two wins in the last two seasons combined), the Bobcats have made a splash in 2017 with three conference victories despite the previous struggles and being picked last in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Now the Bobcats begin to shift their focus as the team has an outside chance at the No. 4 seed but will likely finish the season as either the No. 5 or 6 seed, set to face the No. 3 or 4 seed on the road on Saturday, April 29.

NATIONAL RANKING
A pair of Bobcats in juniors Kyle Larkin and Kiera Kelly find themselves listed among the national leaders in several defensive statistical categories this season. Larkin has been a standout in the cage all season as she ranks third in the nation in saves (166), fifth in saves per game (11.07) and 19^th in save percentage (.485). A standout defender in the field, Kelly comes in ranking 11^th in the nation in caused turnovers per game (2.40) and 17^th in ground balls per game (3.33).

NO MARGIN FOR ERROR
In all four Quinnipiac victories, the goal differential has been just one (CCSU 10-9, Manhattan 12-11, Iona 14-13, Siena 11-10) as the Bobcats have eked out all four wins in 2017. The last time Quinnipiac recorded four one-goal wins came when the team amassed four of their seven victories by one-goal margins in the 2012 season.

LARKIN'S LASER-LIKE FOCUS
Quinnipiac's road loss to Marist (4/8) saw Kyle Larkin dominate in goal as the junior posted a career high 20 saves on 30 shots-on-goal in a 10-4 defeat. Larkin's career highlight sees her become the first Quinnipiac goalkeeper to stop at least 20 shots in a single-game since Megan Matthews posted a program record 24 saves on March 30, 2003. Larkin's 20-save effort marked just the fifth time in Quinnipiac history that a goalkeeper has reached the 20-save mark.

COMEBACK CATS
After going more than two full seasons without coming back from a three-goal deficit in the second half, Quinnipiac has managed to overcome three-goal second half deficits in three of their four wins this season (10-9 over CCSU, 12-11 at Manhattan, 14-13 in overtime at Iona). The most-recent 11-10 win over Siena (4/19) saw the Bobcats overcome a two-goal second half deficit. Prior to the start of 2017, Quinnipiac had gone 38 games without accomplishing the feat as their last win before the start of the season when trailing by at least three in the second half came on March 29, 2014 as the Bobcats trailed Manhattan 10-6 before coming all the way back to win 12-11.

OVERCOMING IN OVERTIME
Quinnipiac's 14-13 overtime win at Iona signaled the first time the Bobcats won an overtime decision since defeating Iona 13-12 back on March 6, 2013. The Bobcats had lost their last three straight overtime games prior to defeating the Gaels on the road.

HLESCIAK HERE TO SCORE
Alex Hlesciak's 2017 season has been a revelation as the senior comes in with a team-leading 25 goals in 15 games played thus far while also adding 22 draw controls, 14 ground balls and seven caused turnovers. The 25 goals leads the team while setting a new career high as Hlesciak came into the season with 18 career goals through her first three seasons (40 games) as a Bobcat. Hlesciak recently tallied four goals (all in the first half) in a win over Iona, marking the third hat trick of her career (all in 2017). Since the start of MAAC play, she has compiled 11 goals in seven games.

LARKIN'S LEAP
Kyle Larkin's play in the cage has been stellar over the last 12 games as she has accumulated 145 saves (12.1 per game) over that span. She rattled off a career high streak of double digit saves in five straight games, while her career total now stands at 17 double-digit save outings. Her lowest single-game save percentage in that 12-game span is .333 while she has saved at least 50 percent of all shots-on-goal in seven of the 12 games. Larkin's goals against average stands at 12.45 in the stretch while she has posted an impressive .503 cumulative save percentage.

FLARE FOR THE DRAMATIC
Quinnipiac's leading scorer Allison Kuhn (22-11-33) has had a flare for the dramatic all season, as the sophomore has produced two game-winning goals while assisting on the game-tying goal in the Bobcats' win over Manhattan (4/1). With her team trailing 8-5 against CCSU (2/18), Kuhn scored or assisted on four of the five goals in a game-deciding 5-0 run for Quinnipiac over a 10-minute span. Facing a 10-8 deficit at Manhattan with 10 minutes remaining, Kuhn scored the game-tying goal that made it 10-10 and later assisted on Ellie Swenson's game-tying goal to make it 11-11, all prior to Ashley Bobinski's game-winner. Finally, in an overtime win at Iona (4/5), Kuhn scored with 37 seconds remaining to tie the score and send the game into the extra session before coming through scoring the game-winner in OT.

SUDDEN SURGE
Moved into more of a goal-scoring position on offense, Ellie Swenson has come through with solid showings since the start of MAAC play. In seven conference games, Swenson posted two points against Monmouth and struck for her first career hat trick at Manhattan to highlight her total of nine points (seven goals, two assists) through seven MAAC games. The nine-point total eclipsed her entire output from her freshman season in 2016 (five points) while she has 13 points (10-3-13) thus far in the 2017 season.

LAST MINUTE MAGIC
Ashley Bobinski's game-winning free position tally with nine seconds left in a 12-11 win at Manhattan (4/1) marked the first time the Bobcats won on a goal in the final minute of play since March 28, 2013 (63 games ago). In that game, Maria Blois scored the game-winner with 10 seconds remaining as the Bobcats defeated Bryant, 16-15.

LEADING THE WAY
Quinnipiac's leading scorer in 2017 Allison Kuhn (22-11-33) has come alive since MAAC play started as she has compiled 21 points (14-7-21) in seven league games. Kuhn went off at Manhattan and matched her career high with five goals while adding one assist for a game-high six points. She also posted six points in a win over Siena (4/19) as she scored three goals and dished out a career high three assists. The 2016 MAAC All-Rookie selection has already improved upon her freshman year point total of 27 (19-8-27).

DEFENSIVE DYNAMO
One season after leading the MAAC in both caused turnovers and ground balls per game, junior Preseason All-MAAC First Teamer Kiera Kelly is back at it again with her strong one-on-one defensive play. Currently leading the team in ground balls (50) and caused turnovers (36), Kelly leads the MAAC in caused turnovers per game (2.40) and ranks third in ground balls per game (3.33). In her career, Kelly already ranks second all-time at Quinnipiac in caused turnovers (92) while she sits fifth in ground balls (143).

SENIOR MOMENT
Alex Hlesciak played the game of her life against Fresno State (3/16) as the senior racked up a career high five goals in a 9-8 loss to the Bulldogs. In 45 games prior to the match at Fresno State, Hlesciak tallied a single-game high of two goals on six different occasions. She exploded for five goals, more than double her previous career-best, while scoring four straight goals for the Bobcats. Hlesciak added a second career hat trick at UMass Lowell (3/22) and now leads the Bobcats with 25 goals this season, three more than sophomore Allison Kuhn in second place with 22 through 15 games.

SHUTTING THE DOOR
Junior goalkeeper Kyle Larkin has played some of the best lacrosse of her career in the last week as she racked up a career high 16 saves in a loss to UC Davis (3/12) and then passed that with 19 saves in a loss to Hofstra (3/18). Larkin posted 11 of her 16 saves in the first half alone against UC Davis, surpassing her previous career high of 14 from a road game at Siena last season, and then had 11 of her 19 saves against Hofstra in the second half.

NEW SEASON…NEW TEAM
Trailing by three in the second half, Quinnipiac answered with five straight goals to catapult the Bobcats out front and ultimately to a season-opening 10-9 victory over CCSU (2/18). A resounding come-from-behind victory to open the career of first-year head coach Tanya Kotowicz at Quinnipiac, the victory stands as the first win in a season opener for the Bobcats since defeating UConn, 11-10, all the way back in the 2009 season (seven straight season-opening losses prior to tonight's win). Incredibly, Quinnipiac's win marks just the fourth victory in a season opener in the 19 seasons since joining the NCAA Div. I ranks (1999).

INSTANT IMPACT
Freshman Ashley Bobinski's first career game certainly stands out as one to remember as she scored four goals on four shots to make her the highest-scoring rookie in her debut as a Bobcat in program history. The last rookie to post a hat trick in her debut with Quinnipiac came back in 2012 as Kyra Ochwat tallied three goals against UConn. Bobinski scored three times, securing her hat trick after 17 minutes of play, which she added one more in the second half to give her a team-leading four tallies while igniting the game-deciding 5-0 second half run. Bobinski also had a two-goal, one-assist performance to have a hand in three of Quinnipiac's four goals in a loss at Hofstra (3/18).

Schedule

QU Women's Lacrosse Senior Day Slated for Sunday Against Niagara

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Players Mentioned

Alex Hlesciak

Kiera Kelly

Allison Kuhn

Danielle La Rocca

Kyle Larkin

Michele Merwin

Charlotte Morley

Kelsey Mumford

Audrey Samuelman

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