MANCHESTER, N.H. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team defeated Stonehill College, 17-7, in the Hawks regular-season home finale on Saturday evening at Grappone Stadium.

Saint Anselm moves to 7-2 on the year and to 6-2 against Northeast-10 Conference opponents. The Hawks are also ranked 20th in the most recent Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II Poll. The Skyhawks fall to 4-7 overall on the season and to 4-7 against league opponents. With the win, Saint Anselm captured just its fifth victory over Stonehill in team history.

Freshman Jess Sullivan (Wrentham, Mass.) led the way for the Hawks with a career-high five assists while adding a goal, totaling six points. Senior Kelsey Czarnota (Wakefield, Mass.) had a hand in the offense, netting four goals and assisting one goal. Sophomore Meghan Cotraro (Beverly, Mass.) posted the first hat trick of her career and added an assist with classmate Lexi Palmisano (Woburn, Mass.) tallying her third three-goal performance of the season.

In net, junior Grace Young (Merrimack, N.H.) stopped nine shots, yielding seven goals and earning her seventh win of the season. Senior Caroline Guzzardi (Boxborough, Mass.) helped Young on defense by picking up a team-high five ground balls, a season-high mark. Junior McKenzie Robinson (Mont Vernon, N.H.) earned a new career-high seven draw controls in the win.

Tied at two just nine minutes into the contest, the Hawks took control and scored six consecutive goals in a seven-minute span, putting up a lead that the Skyhawks would be unable to come back from. Cotraro netted two of her three goals in that span, leading the Hawks to an 8-2 advantage with 14 minutes left in the opening half.

Each team would score two in the next seven minutes, holding the six-goal margin before the Hawks picked up the pace again, scoring three times down the stretch to carry a 13-4 lead into halftime. Palmisano recorded the final two tallies in the opening 30 minutes.

Saint Anselm fired 21 of the 31 first-half shots and were a perfect 10-for-10 on first-half clerarance attempts.

Lydia Rudden of the Skyhawks picked up the first points of the second half, finding the back of the net at 25:05, cutting the Hawks lead to 13-5. Czarnota and Sullivan finished their scoring with goals to make it a 15-5 advantage in the second half. The Hawks defense held up, allowing only two Skyhawks goals past them in the final 20 minutes of regulation time.

Saint Anselm wrapped the game up with a 37-23 shots advantage and a 20-6 lead in draw controls.

Prior to the game, Saint Anselm celebrated six senior student-athletes, Ally Irish (Scituate, Mass.), Caroline Villareal (Portsmouth, R.I.), Sarah Morey (Natick, Mass.), Julia McCarthy (Marshfield, Mass.), Guzzardi and Czarnota, and recognized them for their impact on the program.

The Hawks will conclude their regular season on Tuesday, Apr. 27 when they travel up to Saint Michael's College for a 4 p.m. matchup.