Upcoming in Gray Wolves Lacrosse: The Gray Wolves return home this week after a two-game road trip in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference. Lourdes will welcome Aquinas to Wildcat Stadium on Wednesday evening and look to run its win streak to two games.
Head Coach Alyssa Shaver: In her second season on the Lourdes bench,
Alyssa Shaver has a 13-15 (.464) record at the helm of the Gray Wolves and as well as a collegiate head coach. Â She is just the second head coach in Lourdes program's history.
Series Notes: Lourdes is 2-6 all-time against Aquinas in a series that began on March 22, 2014. The Saints have won the last four games between the two schools. Lourdes last defeated Aquinas on April 15, 2016, a 9-8 victory over the Saints.Â
Wrapping Up Last Week: After dropping a 17-4 decision at No. 10-ranked Lawrence Tech to open the week, Lourdes responded with a hard-fought 12-11 victory over Madonna. The victory gave Lourdes its second triumph in the last three games.Â
Scouting Aquinas: The Saints enter the matchup after a 21-5 triumph over Bethel (Ind.) on Saturday to earn their first Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference victory of the season. The Saints ended a four-game skid with the win. Through eight games this season, Lauren Sanford leads the team, and ranks second in the WHAC with 32 goals. Naomi Plant currently leads the Saints offense, and is tied for first place in the WHAC, with 11 assists. McKenna Maltby leads the conference, and ranks tenth nationally, with 36 ground balls. Maltby has been the anchor for the Saints defense, starting in all eight games , and playing all 480 minutes, in the cage this season for Aquinas. The keeper has stopped 80 shots this season and sports a .385 save percentage.Â
A Game-Winner: Hannah Merrick exploded for five goals in the Gray Wolves 12-11 victory over Madonna on Saturday. Merrick was the hero for Lourdes in the victory, netting her first career game-winning goal. After Madonna scored three straight goals within the final five minutes of the game, Merrick put the Crusaders away with just 27 seconds left on the clock on an unassisted man-up goal.
Leading The Offense: Tiara Reed has proven to be an asset for Lourdes offensively. The midfielder currently leads the team in goals (29), points (38), assists (9), grounds balls (24) and draw controls (54). Reed ranks in the top five in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference in four of the five categories. She also ranks first in the conference, and ninth nationally, in draw controls.
A New Offensive Threat: Hannah Merrick has come on as an offensive threat for Lourdes in the last three games. Merrick has scored 10 goals in the last three games, helping Lourdes pick up victories in two of the last three contests. Prior to her three-game offensive outburst, Merrick had only netted seven goals over nine games.
A Balanced Offense: Lourdes now has five players that have scored in double digits this season.
Brianna Nantz recorded a hat trick in the victory over Madonna, scoring three goals to push her season total to 11 goals.
Tiara Reed,
Ashley Hunt,
Hannah Merrick and
Bella D'Arcy have all also tallied double-digit goals.
Into The Record Books: With an 11-save effort in the cage against Madonna,
Jacque Pappadakes moved her season total saves mark to 103. Pappadakes now ranks fifth all-time at Lourdes for saves in a single season. She also became just the third keeper in program history to notch 100 saves in a single season.Â
Getting Ahead Early: Lourdes is a perfect 4-0 this season when it holds the lead at halftime. The Gray Wolves are also undefeated this season when tied with the opposing team at the break.
This and That:Â The Gray Wolves remained undefeated all-time against Madonna after its 12-11 victory over the Crusaders ...
Tiara Reed and
Ashley Hunt both rank in the top-five all-time in careers goals and assists at Lourdes ... the Gray Wolves are 4-0 when getting off more shots than their opposition.
