Adison Pollutro passes the ball against D'Youville

Max Sacco

#4 Seed Women's Lacrosse Readies for #1 Seed Mercy in First-Ever Postseason Appearance

4/29/2025 1:48:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Max Sacco, Assistant Athletics Communications Director | msacco@daemen.edu

POSTSEASON LAX
For the first time in program history, the Daemen University women's lacrosse team will partake in postseason lacrosse as they will face #1 seeded RV Mercy in the first round of the East Coast Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship. Opening draw from Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. is set for 12 p.m. on April 30. Mercy won the prior meeting between the two sides earlier this season by a final score of 21-6 on March 29 also in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

A FLARE FOR THE DRAMATIC
Down 12-11 with less than two minutes to play in the fourth quarter against D'Youville on April 23 with a playoff berth on the line, junior attacker Avery Castner (Penn Yan, N.Y.)found an opening of space and fired the ball into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the game and tied the contest, 12-12, with 1:40 left in regulation. Neither team was able to score with the remaining time in regulation, sending the game to overtime In the extra frame, senior midfielder Katelynn Deveans (Clinton, N.Y.) collected the opening draw control and was able to bring the ball downfield for Daemen. Moments later, sophomore attacker Shannen Calandra (Rome, N.Y.) found junior midfielder Ella Bouley (Auburn, N.Y.) in front of the net where she fired the ball into the back of the net to send Daemen to the postseason for the first time in program history. It was the 'Cats first win against the Saints and first overtime win in program history.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK... AGAIN!
For the second time this season, freshman goalie Molly Evans (Fulton, N.Y.) was tabbed the East Coast Conference Rookie of the Week, the league office announced Monday afternoon. Evans last earned the award on March 3 and joins fellow freshman Marianna Szamoskozi (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) as the only two Daemen players this season to earn multiple weekly awards. This past week, Evans made nine saves, including five in the third quarter, to lead Daemen to a 13-12 overtime win over D'Youville to punch the Wildcats' ticket to the postseason for the first time in program history. The Daemen freshman goalkeeper only allowed four second-half goals en route to the victory. Against No. 24 Dominican on Sunday, Evans made a season-high 19 saves, the third most in a single game in Daemen program history.

200 CLUB
Senior Katelynn Deveans (Clinton, N.Y.) and Cameron Briggs (Buffalo, N.Y.) each became the only two active Wildcats this season to achieve 200 draw controls for their career. Spanning her time at Medaille and Daemen, Deveans most recently accomplished the feat with five draw controls at D'Youville (April 23) to amass 200 for her career. As for Briggs, she completed the feat on senior day against Roberts Wesleyan (April 19) as she tallied four draw controls to surpass 200 for her career spanning her time at Medaille, Notre Dame College and Daemen.

BLANKED
A season-high 13 different players for the back of the net for Daemen as they earned their first shutout victory in program history with a 21-0 thrashing of the University of the District of Columbia back on April 5. The Wildcats are the first ECC team this year to secure a shutout as well. Senior midfielder Cameron Briggs (Buffalo, N.Y.) led Daemen with five total points on three goals and two assists. The Buffalo, N.Y., native also helped Daemen on the defensive side of the ball as she collected a team-best four ground balls to pair with six draw controls and two caused turnovers. Fellow senior Katelynn Deveans (Clinton, N.Y.) and sophomore Mikayla Myer (Geneva, N.Y.) each notched a hat trick of their own in the winning effort. Junior midfielder Avery Castner (Penn Yan, N.Y.) tallied a season-high three assists while on defense, junior defender Jenna Havert (Newark, N.Y.) snagged three ground balls and scored her second career goal as well. The Wildcats jumped ahead to a 6-0 lead in the first eight minutes of the contest, paced by a pair of goals from sophomore attacker Cadence Baran (Lancaster, N.Y.). Daemen added on four more goals before the opening stanza ended to start the running clock and command a 10-0 lead after 15 minutes of action. The Wildcats never slowed down the remainder of the way en route to their 21-0 victory as Daemen ended the contest with a 42-4 advantage in shots and 24-11 edge in ground balls.

SCOUTING MERCY (9-6, 5-1 ECC)
The Mavericks clinched the #1 overall seed in the ECC Women's Lacrosse Championship with a 10-8 win over Roberts Wesleyan in their season finale on April 27. Mercy was led in net by junior Olivia LaMonica who made a game-high-tying 14 saves to earn the win. For LaMonica, she also ended the year as the ECC leader in goals against average at 10.33. Leah Hansen ended the regular season as the Mavericks leader in goals (48) and points (65) and ranked fourth in the ECC for total goals as well. On defense, Lindsey Shimborske nabbed a team-best 57 ground balls and caused 36 turnovers which ended the regular season ranked third in the ECC. In her 13th season on the sideline for Mercy is head coach Dawn Sachs who has led the Mavericks to an appearance in the ECC Championship Final for seven straight seasons.

SERIES HISTORY
Daemen is 0-3 all-time against Mercy. In all three prior meetings, Mercy was either ranked on receiving votes to be within the top 25 nationally.

Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

Follow the Daemen women's program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenWLAX.

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