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WLAX after NCAA win Grombala
Dana Funyak

NCAA Sweet 16 Preview: Women’s Lacrosse to Face UChicago on Saturday

| By: Luke Potosky, Staff Writer
The Blue Streaks are playing for more smiles and more time together as a team.
LEXINGTON, Va. -- On Saturday, May 8, John Carroll University Women's Lacrosse triumphed in its NCAA Tournament debut by overpowering Wisconsin-River Falls at the University of Chicago. The win pushed the Blue Streaks to the Sweet Sixteen.

The John Carroll Blue Streaks (17-1) will travel to Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia to take on the University of Chicago Maroons (10-1) on Saturday, May 15 at 11 a.m. EST in the Third Round (aka Regional Semifinal) of the NCAA Tournament.

"Our mindset is that we're playing to be together," said Head Coach Rachel Dell (76-28 in seven years at JCU) after last Saturday's victory. "Wins mean more time with each other, and we will get that when we play in front of our families and parents in Virginia."

Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Video

Saturday's game against UChicago will continue John Carroll's first run in the NCAA Tournament during their seven-year tenure as a program. 

At the end of the regular season, the Blue Streaks found themselves ranked as the No. 3 team in the Great Lakes Region; behind Denison and Washington & Jefferson. They also finished #18 in the final set of rankings published by USA Lacrosse Magazine.

John Carroll is currently on a 4-game winning streak, outscoring their opponents 84-25. They outscored their opponents in the regular season 348-99; winning games by an average score of 20.5-5.8.

Statistically speaking, the Blue Streaks rank 1st in the NCAA in shots on goal per game (32.88), 2nd in free-position percentage (62.8%), 2nd in shots per game (42.53), 2nd in draw controls per game (18.76), 2nd in scoring offense (20.47), 5th in average win margin (14.65), and 8th in points per game (28.24).

The Blue & Gold will be led offensively by the likes of the NCAA's leading goal and point scorer Colleen Grombala (98 goals, 30 assists), Jenna Ginsberg (40 goals, 20 assists), Alex Heishman (34 goals, 14 assists), and Kendall Gessner (35 goals, five assists). 12 Blue Streaks have 20 points or more tabbed to their name this season.

Defensively, Mary Doherty leads the team with 38 ground balls, and Molly Carroll (22) & Carly Ross (20) lead in caused turnovers. Kaleigh Kotula led the Ohio Athletic Conference in save percentage (53.4%) and goals allowed average (6.31 goals allowed per game).

After qualifying for the NCAA Tournament as OAC Champions and earning an automatic bid, the Blue Streaks defeated the Falcons of UW-River Falls 21-6. Ginsberg was the shining star of the game, finishing with a career-high seven goals and two assists. Grombala paired three goals with three assists on the night. Claire Mezzoprete was the third Blue Streak that scored a trio of goals.

Defensively, Shannon Burdick led the way with five ground balls and Carroll caused two turnovers. Also, Kaleigh Kotula nabbed six saves in 11 shots faced on goal.

As a team, the Blue & Gold had 32 of 36 shots on goal, won the draw control battle 19-8, and won the ground ball total 25-21.

On the other side of this matchup, the Blue Streaks will face a stiff challenge from UChicago. The Maroons are in their third season of varsity intercollegiate competition, and this is also their first NCAA Tournament experience.

They qualified for the tournament as the regular season & conference tournament champions of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin. They finished the regular season 7-1; their lone blemish being a one-point loss to Illinois Wesleyan.

In the midst of their 2021 season, they have faced four schools that qualified for the NCAA Tournament; Illinois Wesleyan and Carroll (WI) who qualified via Pool C, Hamline who won the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference Championship, and Aurora who won the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Championship.

The Maroons finished as the #1 ranked team in the West Region. Wisconsin-River Falls, the school John Carroll defeated in the second round, was ranked #4 in the region.

After winning their conference semifinals over Carthage 18-6 and their conference title over Carroll (WI) 19-3, UChicago was one of four host schools in the second round of NCAA Tournament play. On Saturday, May 8, the Maroons battled against Hamline.

Winning the regular-season matchup 18-3, the postseason matchup was no different as UChicago improved to an unbeaten 21-0 record on their home turf by defeating Hamline 20-2.

"This was a really special game for this team and a big moment for this program," said Maroon Head Coach Kate Robinson (28-4 in three years at UChicago). "We can't wait for our first Sweet 16 appearance and see what this team can do."

The Maroons found themselves locked in a 2-2 stalemate about 13 minutes into the contest, but they outscored their opponents 18-0 in the final 47 minutes to run away with the victory.

As a team, like the Blue Streaks, they dominated the stat books; outshooting their opponents 45-11, winning the ground ball battle 25-13, and completing 13 of 15 clear attempts.

Ten different Maroons scored in their 20-2 win; highlighted by a trio of three-goal scorers: Anne Sensenig, Lulu Hardy, and Katie Large.

UChicago has won their last four games, outscoring their opponents 77-11. They have outscored opponents this season 196-55; winning games by an average score of 17.8-5.0.

The Maroons are 9th in average win margin (12.30 goals), 10th in assists per game (9.20), 11th in points per game (26.80), 11th in scoring defense (5.30 goals allowed per game), 11th in shots on goal per game (29.20), and 12th in shots per game (36.70).

Offensively speaking, UChicago will be led by the likes of Ali Sheehy (30 goals, eight assists), Lulu Hardy (30 goals, seven assists), Lally Johnson (10 goals, 26 assists), and Katie Large (24 goals, five assists). They feature seven players with 20 points or more this season.

Defensively, Adriana Shutler leads the team with 28 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers, followed closely behind by Hailey Klinger with 23 ground balls and 12 caused turnovers. Goalie Emily Feigen is 10th in the country in average goals allowed (5.55).

The battle between the 11th ranked Maroon defense and the 2nd ranked Blue Streak offense will be the matchup to watch on Saturday.

The winner of UChicago and John Carroll will face the winner of Denison and Aurora in the Regional Final of the NCAA Tournament on the following day, May 16, at Washington and Lee University.
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