Rivalry Showdown as Akron Visits Kent State

Wednesday, March 18

Kent, Ohio

5:00 PM

University of Akron

Kent State

March 17 | Women's Lacrosse

AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron lacrosse team continues Mid-American Conference play with a 5 p.m. rivalry showdown at Kent State on Wednesday (March 18).

ZIPS NAME TEAM CAPTAINS FOR 2026:
The Akron senior duo of Katie Baumer (Rochester, N.Y.) and Sarah Baumer (Rochester, N.Y.) will serve as the Zips' captains for the 2026 campaign.

SCOUTING AKRON:
Junior Sienna Hinchcliffe (Rochester, N.Y.) leads the Zips in goals (34), points (48), shots (65) and shots on goal (43), while ranking second in caused turnovers (8) and third in ground balls (15). Katie Baumer is second on the team in goals (23). Senior Kellen Fletcher (Valencia, Pa.) and Hinchcliffe pace the squad in assists (14), while junior Kaitlyn Sikorski (Plymouth, Minn.) ranks third with 13. Senior Heather Carey (Williamsville, N.Y.), ranks third on the squad in goals netting 16. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Adrianna Califano (Bellmore, N.Y.) has registered 52 saves, 16 ground balls and owns a 8.63 goals against average.

SCOUTING KENT STATE:
Akron is meeting Kent State for the ninth time in program history. The Golden Flashes are 4-4 on the campaign, including 0-1 in the Mid-American Conference, following a 12-6 setback at Eastern Michigan on Saturday (March 14). Senior Zayda Crumpton owns team-high totals in goals (16), assists (12), points (28), shots (63), shots on goal (40), and draw controls (21), while rating third in ground balls (14). Junior goalkeeper Sydney Davis has collected 85 saves, respectively, en route to posting a 9.85 goals against average. Kent State is led by eighth-year head coach Brianne Tierney, who owns an 39-77 ledger as a head coach for the Golden Flashes and is 62-102 in 11 seasons overall as a head coach.

IN OUR LAST MEETING (APRIL 6, 2025 – AKRON, OHIO):
Directed by a four-goal performance from Sienna Hinchcliffe, Akron registered a 14-9 victory over rival Kent State on April 6, 2025, at InfoCision Stadium-Summa Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
• Katie Baumer, Heather Carey, Noelle Boyd, Jaelyn Clinkscales and Kellen Fletcher added three, three, two, one and one goals for the Zips.
• Baumer and Hinchcliffe each recorded three assists for Akron, while Boyd and Clinkscales contributed two and one assist, respectively.
• Hinchcliffe tallied a game-high 12 shots, including nine on goal.
• Boyd led the Zips with a game-high four ground balls, while Baumer garnered a team-best five draw controls.
• Baumer posted a game-high four caused turnovers to go along with an eight-save performance from Hannah Sanders.

AKRON PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN MAC PRESEASON POLL:
The Mid-American Conference announced the 2026 Preseason Coaches' Poll on Wednesday (Feb. 4) as Akron was selected by the league's women's lacrosse coaches to finish second this season.

Conference newcomer Massachusetts (48 points, 6 first-place votes) was tabbed to capture the regular and postseason championships followed by Akron (37 points), Eastern Michigan (37), Robert Morris (34, 1 first-place vote), Central Michigan (28), Kent State (19), Youngstown State (12) and Detroit Mercy (9).

AKRON OVERPOWERS DETROIT MERCY IN MAC OPENER:
Akron opened Mid-American Conference play with a dominating 24-2 triumph past Detroit Mercy on Saturday (March 14) at InfoCision Stadium-Summa Health Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
• The Zips registered a program record for goals (24), assists (17) and points (41) in the match led by a seven-goal and seven-assist performance from Sienna Hinchcliffe.
• Hinchcliffe's seven assists represent a program record.
• Adding five, four and three goals, respectively, was Katie Baumer, Heather Carey and Kellen Fletcher.
• Tallying one goal apiece was freshman Savannah Hinchcliffe (Rochester, N.Y.), redshirt sophomore Hannah McGuire (Ormond Beach, Fla.), junior Shaelyn Scharpf (South Huntington, N.Y.), freshman Faith Sellet and Kaitlyn Sikorski.
• The goals were the first career tallies for McGuire and Scharpf.
• Akron earned a trio of assists with Hinchcliffe notching a pair and Carey accounting for one.
• Recording three, two, two, two and one assist, respectively, for Akron was Fletcher, Baumer, sophomore Keira Fontaine (Lido Beach, N.Y.), Sikorski and sophomore Kayli Grant (Oak Lawn, Ill.).
• The assists for Fontaine stand as her first career points as a Zip.
• Goalkeeper Adrianna Califano (Bellmore, N.Y.) was strong in net for the Zips collecting five saves in the match.
• Redshirt junior Camryn Kwiatkowski (Pittsburgh, Pa.) posted a game-high two ground balls, while Baumer, Hinchcliffe and sophomore Julia Mattingly (Leonardtown, Md.) pulled in team-best four draw controls each.
• Senior Sarah Baumer (Rochester, N.Y.) tallied a game-high two caused turnovers.
• Recording a game-high nine shots, including seven on goal was Hinchcliffe.

ZIPS CAPTURE MAC TOURNAMENT TITLE:
A golden goal from Jaelyn Clinkscales with 14 seconds remaining in overtime propelled the Akron lacrosse team to its first ever Mid-American Conference Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth with a come-from-behind 11-10 victory over Robert Morris in the league's title match on May 3, 2025, in Moon Township, Pa.

Picked to finish last in the MAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Zips overcame a five-goal second-half deficit to force and overtime and set the stage for Clinkscales' game-winning goal in overtime.

AKRON EARNS FIRST EVER MAC REGULAR SEASON TITLE:
With its 14-12 come-from-behind victory over Robert Morris on April 27, 2025, the Zips earned a share of their first-ever Mid-American Conference regular season title.

FOUR ZIPS AND HEAD COACH ELAINE JONES GARNER ALL-MAC ACCOLADES:
Akron garnered a program-record four All-Mid-American Conference selections when the league unveiled its 2025 award winners in a vote of the league coaches.

Akron head coach Elaine Jones was recognized as the league's Coach of the Year as she led the Zips to their first ever MAC Regular Season title after the squad was picked to finish last in the preseason coaches' poll.

Noelle Boyd and Sienna Hinchcliffe headlined the Zips' award winners as the duo was selected as First-Team All-MAC honorees.

Pulling in Second-Team All-MAC laurels was Katie Baumer. Additionally, Julia Mattingly was tabbed to the MAC All-Freshman team.

AKRON NOTES:
• Sienna Hinchcliffe is atop the career list at Akron in goals per game (2.98), points per contest (3.93), assists per outing (0.95), shots per match (6.91), shots on goal per game (5.09) and woman-up goals, while rating second in total goals (128), total points (169) and total assists (41), third in shots (297) and shots on goal (219) and fourth in draw controls (117) and draw controls per tilt (2.72).
• Katie Baumer is now atop Akron's career list in caused turnovers (63). Additionally, she is rated second at Akron in draw controls (168), third in draw controls per contest (2.90), fourth in goals (1.21) and points per game (1.72), total points (100), career assists (30), total shots (163) and shots on goal (121), fifth in total goals (70) and shots per match (2.81) and sixth in ground balls (85), caused turnovers per match (1.09), shots on goal per tilt (2.09) and assists per game (0.52).
• Sienna Hinchcliffe supplanted Alexis Kiefer as the single season record holder for goals in program history with a career-best six-goal effort against Robert Morris (April 27). She finished the campaign with 59 goals last season.
• Sienna Hinchcliffe set the single-season record for points (73), shots (142) and shots on goal (106), while Noelle Boyd owns the top single-season mark for assists (26) and Hannah Sanders for saves (144) and wins (11).
• Noelle Boyd surpassed Alexis Kiefer atop the career list for shots versus Robert Morris (April 27) having amassed 331 shots, while moving atop the list for shots on goal with 254 shots on goal against Eastern Michigan (April 20). Additionally, she started a program record 69 games.

IN THE LATEST MAC RANKINGS:
• Akron rates first in the Mid-American Conference in goals against average (8.63), second in goals (13.13), assists (7.25), points (20.38) and in shots per game (28.25) and third in shots on goal (19.75).
• In league-only matches, Akron is ranked first in the league in goals (24.00), points (41.00), assists (17.00) and goals against average (2.00) and second in shots (34.00), shots on goal (27.00), save percentage (.714) and draw controls (15.00).
• Sienna Hinchcliffe is first in the conference in goals per game (4.25), in points per outing (6.00) and in shots (8.13) and fourth in assists per tilt (1.75).
• Katie Baumer is third in points (4.00), fourth in goals per game (2.88), fifth in shots (5.88) and eighth in draw controls (3.00), while Kellen Fletcher is fourth in assists (1.75) and ninth in points per match (3.00).
• Adrianna Califano is first in goals against average (8.63), fourth in save percentage (.430) and sixth in saves (6.50).
• Additionally, Kaitlyn Sikorski is sixth in assists per match (1.63), Sarah Baumer is second in caused turnovers (1.88), Julia Mattingly is third in draw controls (3.88) and Heather Carey is eighth in goals per contest (2.00).
• In league-only action, Hinchcliffe is first in goals per game (7.00), points per contest (14.00), assists per tilt (7.00), third in shots per match (9.00) and fourth in draw controls (5.00). Califano is first in the MAC in league-only goals against average (2.00), second in saves percentage (.714) and fifth in saves per game (5.00). Additionally, Baumer is second in goals per game (5.00) and shot per match (10.00) and third in points per contest (7.00), Carey is fourth in goals per game (4.00) and ninth in points per contest (4.00), Fletcher is third in assists per tilt (3.00), fourth in points per contest (6.00) and fifth in goals per game (3.00) and Sikorski is sixth in assists per tilt (2.00).

ZIPS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS:
• Katie Baumer is third in the NCAA in free position percentage (.778) and 16th in free position goals (0.88), while Sarah Baumer ranks 40th in caused turnovers (1.88).
• Sienna Hinchcliffe rated fourth in the NCAA in goals per game (4.25), fifth in total goals (34), sixth in shots (8.13), total points (48) and points per match (6.00), seventh in free position percentage (.750), 19th in shots on goal (5.38) and 41st in free position goals (0.75).
• Akron ranks seventh in the NCAA in free position percentage (.636), 13th in winning percentage (.750), 19th in scoring defense (8.63), 20th seventh in in ground balls (17.38), 21st in scoring margin (4.50) and in assists per game (7.25), 27th in shot percentage (.465), 28th in points per match (20.38) and 34th in scoring offense (13.13).
• Sienna Hinchcliffe ranks 16th among active NCAA D1 leaders in goals per outing (2.98), 17th in points per game (3.93) and 28th in total goals (128), while Katie Baumer is rated 36th in caused turnovers (1.09) and 49th in draw controls (2.90).

UP NEXT:
Akron hosts San Diego State on Sunday (March 22) at noon at InfoCision Stadium – Summa Health Field.