SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Junior Erin Marshall (Woburn, Mass.) matched a career-high with seven points as she scored a career-best six goals, including the 50th of her career, to lead the 12th-ranked Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team to Tuesday afternoon's 21-9 victory against American International College at Abdow Field. The game was originally schedule to be played at Saint Anselm, but was moved.
The Hawks snap a two-game skid to improve to 3-2 on the season and 2-2 in Northeast-10 play, while the Yellow Jackets sink to 3-6, 0-5 NE-10.
In addition to Marshall's career day, senior Marissa Daly (Marshfield, Mass.) registered six points on three goals and three assists and junior Caitlin Villareal (Portsmouth, R.I.) totaled five points on three goals and two assists. Senior Sarah Doherty (Franklin, Mass.) added three goals and an assist for four points, with junior Michelle Kudlate (Waltham, Mass.) also tallying four points on two goals and two assists.
Junior Lauren Perry (Merrimack, N.H.) put the Hawks in front, 1-0, just 2:47 into the contest, but two goals each from Carrie Davis and Cheyenne Carden staked AIC to a 4-1 lead with 15:31 remaining in the opening half.
The Hawks responded just 19 seconds later as Marshall scored and was followed by a goal from Doherty just 15 seconds after that to pull Saint Anselm within one at 4-3.
Carden scored at the 12:43 mark to give the Yellow Jackets a two-goal cushion, but a Marshall free-position goal and then a helper on a Daly strike, tied the game at 5-5 with 8:35 on the clock.
Villareal then placed the Hawks in front with her first of the day at 5:59, but Kelly Reilly scored for AIC with just 26 seconds on the clock to send the contest into halftime tied, 6-6.
Villareal picked up in the second half where she left off the first, scoring off a feed from freshman Marta Versprille (Franklin, Mass.) to give Saint Anselm a 7-6 edge just 30 seconds in. Daly then set up a pair of Doherty strikes before junior Bebe Butts (Windham, Maine) added a free-position tally to expand the lead to 10-6 just 5:14 in.
Kudlate kept things rolling as she connected on passes to Daly and Marshall for goals just 27 seconds apart that doubled up the Yellow Jackets, 12-6, with 23:32 remaining.
Marshall potted another before Kudlate scored a pair that were sandwiched around another Carden tally to make it 15-7 with 18:20 left. Reilly followed with two straight just 1:30 apart that trimmed the AIC deficit to six at 16:11.
Saint Anselm responded by sealing the victory with six straight goals. Daly began the surge by taking a Villareal pass and finding the back of the net with 11:14 to go. Senior Kaitlyn Stazinski (Pembroke, Mass.) then scored her first of the day before Villareal fed Perry for a score that made it 18-9 with 4:40 left.
Marshall scored just 16 seconds later and then again at 2:17 off a Daly feed to make it 20-9 before Villareal closed the scoring with 1:08 left after receiving a feed from sophomore Rachel Henderson (Powell, Ohio).
Junior goalkeeper Jane Bunn (St. John's, Fla.) stopped nine of the 18 shots she faced, while Alexis Torosian made 12 saves for AIC.
Saint Anselm held a 39-25 shot advantage, including 24-10 in the second stanza, while AIC owned a slight 16-15 edge in draw controls. The Hawks were 2-for-7 on free-position opportunities, while the Yellow Jackets went 2-for-5.
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, March 25 at 3 p.m. when they travel to take on 10th-ranked Long Island University-LIU Post. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter @STAHawks.
