ABOUT THE MARAUDERS
• Millersville enters Thursday game with an overall record of 7-4. Prior to losing their last game at Slippery Rock, the Marauders had won four-straight and six of their last seven. Mercy will be the third nationally-ranked team Millersville faces this season. It lost to No. 8 East Stroudsburg on March 19, but defeated No. 25 Bloomsburg on March 23.
• The Marauders have outscored their opponents 130-116, outshot their opponents 327-300, have 19 fewer turnovers than their opponents, boast a higher shots on goal percentage than their opponents (.801-.740) and a higher clear percentage (.849-.753).
• Millersville ranks third in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) in clears (191) and ground balls (288) and fifth in save percentage (.477) and caused turnovers (117).
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Genevieve Speights leads the team in points (31) and draw controls (44), is second in goals (22) and shots (51), third in assists (9) and fourth in ground balls (29) and caused turnovers (19). She is also tied for eighth in the PSAC in draw controls per game (4.0).
Gillian Zimmerman is ranked first on the Marauders in goals (26), shots (63), second in points (28) and third in draw controls (20). Zimmerman is also eighth in the conference in shots per game (5.7).
Sara Burney leads the team in assists (14) and is tied with
Erin Fagan for third in points (24).
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Sarah Leverentz is tied for the team lead in caused turnovers (21), ranks second in draw controls (31), ground balls (38) and has contributed to the offense with 21 points, 17 goals and four assists. Leverentz is seventh in the PSAC in ground balls per game (3.5) and is tied with
Natalie Sukanick for eighth in the conference in caused turnovers per game (1.9). Sukanick leads Millersville in ground balls (40) and is tied with Leverentz for the team lead in caused turnovers (21). She is also sixth in the PSAC in ground balls per game (3.6).
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Shannon Davis has started all 11 games in net and has totaled 105 saves this season. She boasts a 10.75 goals against average (GAA), .482 save percentage and ranks sixth in the conference in saves per game (9.6).
LAST TIME IN ACTION: Slippery Rock 8, Millersville 7 (April 7, 2019)
• Five-straight goals by Slippery Rock in the span of less than one and a half minutes in the second half sparked it to an 8-7 win. The Marauders had possession twice in the final two minutes, but turned the ball over both times. Millersville also struggled on its eight-meter shots, going 3-for-14 on free-position shots.
• The two teams were even in shots (23) and turnovers (27). The Marauders held the advantage in shots on goal (18-16), clears (21-20) and free-position shots (14-9), while Slippery Rock had an edge in saves (11-8), ground balls (29-26) and draw controls (10-7).
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Genevieve Speights led the attack with three points, one goal and two assists, while
Sarah Leverentz and
Gillian Zimmerman notched two points each, with Zimmerman scoring two goals. Speights won a game-high six draw controls and Leverentz caused a game and season-high four turnovers.
Natalie Sukanick scooped up a game and season-high six ground balls, while Speights and Leverentz collected four each.
Shannon Davis made eight stops in net.
SERIES HISTORY
Series vs. Mercy: 2-1
Series Streak: Mercy, 1
First Meeting: 2011 (W, 13-10)
Last Meeting: 2017 (L, 8-19)
• Mercy was nationally-ranked for just one of the previous meetings, the game it won.
• The Mavericks have outscored Millersville 39-38 in the series.
• Only one of their meetings was decided by fewer than four goals.
THE LAST MEETING: No. 17 Mercy 19, Millersville 8 (April 1, 2017)
• The Marauders trailed just 3-2 with 20:36 remaining in the first half, but the Mavericks outscored Millersville 11-3 the rest of the half to take a 15-4 advantage into halftime. Of the Mercy players still on the roster Hunter Isnardi scored the most points, four, off of three goals and one assist.
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Sabrina Fusco was the leading scorer for the Marauders, totaling four points, two goals and two assists.
Sarah Leverentz notched one goal, one assist, two ground balls and a team-high four draw controls.
Shannon Davis and Bryanna Weston-Wyatt split time in net, combining for 12 saves.
• The Mavericks held an advantage in shots (39-19), shots on goal (31-12), clears (17-13), ground balls (19-15), draw controls (16-13), free-position shots (8-6) and turned the ball over just 11 times compared to the Marauders' 25 turnovers.
SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
• Mercy went 14-4, including 7-1 in East Coast Conference (ECC) play, last season before having its season end in a ECC Championship loss to LIU Post. The Mavericks won four-straight before losing their last two and are 6-1 against non-nationally-ranked opponents this season.
• Mercy is coming off a crushing 18-17 loss to No. 5 LIU Post on April 6. The Mavericks scored five-straight goals to tie the game with just over two and a half minutes remaining on the clock, but 30 seconds later the Pioneers scored the go-ahead goal and held on for the victory. Brittani Sergio led the Mercy attack with five goals and Katherine Sanchez was just behind her with four goals. Casey Shimborske scooped up a game-high four ground balls, Micayla Brady caused a game-high three turnovers and Erin Dingman won a team-high five draw controls. Emma Jacobsen made 11 stops in net.
• Mercy has outscored its opponents 185-116. Isnardi leads the ECC in goals (60), shots (102), is second in points (66) and leads her team in ground balls (42), caused turnovers (27) and draw controls (101). Sanchez is fifth in the conference in goals (40) and second in shots (92).
• Jacobsen ranks fourth in the ECC in GAA (10.13) and is fifth in saves (92). She also boasts a .449 save percentage.
