Bloomsburg, Pa. – Rachel Ward scored seven goals to lead second-ranked Lock Haven University to a 16-9 victory over the fourth-ranked Le Moyne College women's lacrosse team on Thursday afternoon in non-conference action at Bloomsburg University's Steph Pettit Stadium.
The Lady Eagles opened the game with five straight goals over the first 8:59 to take control of the contest. Kelly Hamilton scored the first, second and fourth goals, all over the first 6:53, while assisting on the third goal. Ward registered the third and fifth goals.
The Dolphins got on the scoreboard with 20:01 left in the first half as senior midfielder
Laura Hoffman (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua) finished off a feed from junior attacker
Erica Geremia (Camillus, N.Y./West Genesee/SUNY Cortland).
Starting with Hoffman's goal, the teams alternated goals over seven minutes, resulting in a 7-3 Lock Haven lead with 13:19 left. Junior attacker
Claire Monnat (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) and senior attacker
Julia Suriani (Buffalo, N.Y./West Seneca East) scored for Le Moyne in the span off feeds from Geremia.
Lock Haven then scored four of the game's next five goals to take an 11-4 lead with 6:54 remaining. National Player of the Year candidate Jessica Pandolf started the spurt with an unassisted goal, while Jill Murray scored twice around a tally by Ward.
Sophomore midfielder
Amari Pollard (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) scored off a pass from junior attacker
Maggie Monnat (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) with 1:35 to go, while Geremia tallied an unassisted goal with 26 seconds left to make it 11-6 at halftime.
The Lady Eagles scored the first four goals of the second half to expand their lead to 15-6 with 15:20 remaining in the game. Pandolf scored at the 27:11 mark, Ward found the back of the net with 17:08 and 16:08 left and Jenna Dingler capped the stretch with 15:20 to go.
The Dolphins scored three of the game's last four goals to deliver the final margin. Suriani converted a free-position shot with 13:34 left to get the Dolphins on the scoreboard in the second half. After Ward tallied Lock Haven's 16th goal, Pollard scored with 7:18 left and with 50 seconds remaining.
Senior goalkeeper
Molly Marbut (Edgewater, Md./South River) took the loss between the pipes after allowing 13 goals over 42:14, while making five saves. Chrissy Baffuto made one save in the win for the Lady Eagles. Hamilton joined Ward in recording seven points with three goals and four assists before being ejected with 25:14 left in the second half following her second yellow card. Lock Haven registered a 26-11 advantage in shots and a 19-8 margin in draw controls.
Le Moyne (3-1) opens Northeast-10 Conference play at home on Saturday against Saint Michael's College at 12:00 p.m.
