Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/19/17
On a day where the University of Pennsylvania women’s lacrosse team was honoring its past, the current group of Quakers put on a show as 12th-ranked Penn defeated No. 16 Duke, 16-6, Saturday on Alumni Day.
Three players had at least four goals for the Quakers, led by Emily Rogers-Healion who had a career-high seven points on four goals and three assists. She was joined by Caroline Cummings, who tied her career high with five goals, and Natalie Stefan who set a new career high with four.
Alex Condon scored Penn’s other three goals, adding two assists as well.
The Quakers were behind early, trailing 4-2 after a Grace Fallon goal 12:18 into the game. However, after Fallon’s goal the Quakers shut the door for almost a full half’s worth of lacrosse as the Blue Devils were held without a goal for the next 29:09 of play.
By the time the Blue Devils got back on the board, Penn had scored eight consecutive goals and taken firm control of the game. Cummings scored three in a row at the start of the second half, turning a 7-4 lead into a comfortable 10-4 cushion.
After Duke got within five with 18:33 to play, Penn scored the next five goals to pull way by ten and cruise the rest of the way.
Penn’s 16 goals are the most scored by a Quakers team in the all-time series against the Blue Devils, and give the Quakers their first win in the series since a 13-10 win in the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
The Red and Blue have been clicking on all cylinders offensively of late, scoring 47 goals over their last three games while limiting opponents to just 21.
When Duke was able to get to goal, Britt Brown was there to deny them. Brown finished with 11 saves and three ground balls, making seven stops in the first half as the Quakers turned the early deficit into a comfortable lead. Katy Junior again was disruptive on defense, causing three turnovers.
In addition to her five goals, Cummings added five draw controls.
Natalie Stefan’s four goals all came on the free position as Penn was 5-for-5 from the arc. Two of Stefan’s goals were on the man-up, the most by a Quaker in a single game since 2011.
Lehigh 10, Holy Cross 3
The Mountain Hawks outscored Holy Cross 10-1 over the middle 24:03 on their way to an impressive road win in the Patriot League opener for both teams. Six different Mountain Hawks (5-2, 1-0 Patriot League) scored goals and the Lehigh defense continued to impress, holding an opponent to just three goals for a second time this season and in single digits for the fifth time in seven games.
The win came over a Holy Cross team riding three straight victories, which included an 11-10 win over Ohio State of the Big Ten. The Crusaders had scored 36 goals over their previous three games before Lehigh held them to a season-low three goals on Saturday, also holding Holy Cross to just 17 shots.
Senior Julianne D’Orazio (Merion Mercy) led the Lehigh offense with three goals and one assist, good for her third-career hat trick and first this season. She also led the Mountain Hawks in groundballs (6), caused turnovers (5) and draw controls (3). Classmate Allison LaBeau had two goals and an assist while Lauren Beausoleil scored twice as well.
Delaware 13, George Washington 2
The Blue Hens came up with their second straight sterling defensive effort and also got goals from nine different players on the way to a victory at George Washington at the GW Lacrosse Field.
Delaware (5-3), which posted a 9-4 victory over Bryant on Thursday, clamped down on the opposition once again as they shut out the Colonials 7-0 in the first half and limited GW (1-6) to just 10 total shots for the game.
Junior goalkeeper Taylor Carpentier allowed just two goals and posted three saves in 46:24 minutes of action before giving way to sophomore Laney Stenson (Conestoga), who had a save and did not allow a goal in 13:36 minutes of work. The Hens forced 19 turnovers, including three caused by junior Megan Santoleri (Archbishop Carroll).
Offensively, nine different UD players scored a goal as freshman Christine Long registered three goals and an assist while classmate Sydney Rausa (Hatboro-Horsham) scored twice and dished out three assists and sophomore Caroline Farley (Shawnee) collected two goals.
Lafayette 15, Army 11
Senior Kirsten Wilhelmsen (Strath Haven) reached another career milestone, hitting 200 points for her career in Lafayette’s win over Army at Fisher Stadium.
Wilhelmsen netted five goals and one assist for six points on the afternoon, moving her career points total to 201. The Wallingford, Pa. native is just the eighth player in program history to record 200 points for her career.
“Kirsten is one of the most dynamic attackers that I’ve ever coached at any institution,” head coach Alison Fisher said. “She’s come a long way in four years. Her offensive abilities are textbook beautiful, but I think what others don’t see is her work off-ball and setting other people up, and what she does on the ride is no small feat either.”
Penn State 18, Rutgers 7
Junior Katie O’Donnell (Henderson) and sophomore Madison Carter each scored four goals to lead No. 8 Penn State past Rutgers in their Big Ten Conference opener from the Penn State Lacrosse Field.
The Nittany Lions improve to 8-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play while the Scarlet Knights fall to 5-4 on the year and 0-1 in Big Ten action.
Vanderbilt 14, Villanova 12
Freshman Emily Mathewson (Garnet Valley, 2015 Phillylacrosse.com Co-Player of the Year) had a perfect homecoming with five goals and three assists to lead Vanderbilt (4-2, 1-0). Mathewson entered the game with five goals overall.
Following the game, Vanderbilt coach Cathy Swezey was very proud of the resolve the team had to come back and win at the end of the game.
“I am so proud of our team and our ability to come back today,” said Swezey. “The game had a lot of runs – and thankfully we got the one at the end. Our shooting percentage improved in a big way and Emily Mathewson had a huge breakout game. We are excited we had a challenge like this before we head to Hopkins.”
Villanova freshman attack Katie Comerford recorded her fourth hat trick in five games and added two assists, along with causing three turnovers and scooping up two ground balls. Sophomore Jillian Swikart also contributed three goals, while sophomore Devon Brown and Kim McDonough added a pair of goals. Freshman Liz Trojan and senior Dana Bouwman also scored in the contest.
Division III
Cabrini 12, Marywood 10
The Cavs held on for a win over Marywood at Edith Robb Dixon Field in the Colonial States Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
With the victory, the Blue and White improved to 3-2 overall and extended its CSAC win streak to 41 games, dating back to a 16-5 loss to Marywood on March 17, 2012.
Sophomores Avery Murphy (Archhbishop Carroll) and Liz Hoeffner led the way for the Cavaliers as the duo combined for 10 points. Murphy paired four goals and 10 draw controls, while Hoeffner added three goals, two assists, four draw controls and three ground balls.
Junior Jackie Neary (Kingsway Regional-NJ) scored twice, while classmate Sasha Wozniak (Spring-Ford) tallied a goal and two helpers.
Swarthmore 14, Eastern 7
Elizabeth Wainwright and Tess Wild combined for 10 goals with both players scoring season highs, Wainwright with six and Wild four. Briana Narzikul (Episcopal Academy) added two free-position goals, and Andie Battin and Tessa Hannigan also scored. Freshman Sydnie Schwarz helped facilitate the Garnet (4-0) offense, dishing out five assists.
Anna Charlebois scored four goals for Eastern.