SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team netted seven of the first eight goals as they pulled away from American International College to post a 19-7 win on Saturday.

With the win, the No. 20 Hawks improve to 5-1 on the season and 3-0 in Northeast-10 Conference play while the Yellow Jackets fall to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in league contests. The Hawks are back in action on Wednesday, Mar. 30 at cross-town rival Southern New Hampshire University.

Senior Taylor Cobain (Smithfield, R.I.) netted a game-high five goals while junior Lexi Palmisano (Woburn, Mass.) added three goals. Nine other student-athletes found the back of the cage in the contest.

Senior Annie Richards (Reading, Mass.) assisted on four goals, good for four points in the contest. Classmate Jenna Balboni (Billerica, Mass.) tied Richards with four points on one goal and three assists.

Senior Grace Young (Merrimack, N.H.) stopped nine shots in just over 51 minutes of action, earning the win and improving to 5-1 on the season. Freshman Elizabeth Driscoll (Marblehead, Mass.) closed the contest for the Hawks and made two saves on two shots on goal.

Saint Anselm opened the scoring just 24 seconds into play as junior Meghan Cotraro (Beverly, Mass.) scored her first goal of the season. Cobain, Palmisano, and sophomore Jess Sullivan (Wrentham, Mass.) extended the Hawks lead to 4-0 with 8:10 left in the first quarter.

Molly Leavitt got the Yellow Jackets on the board at the 6:51 mark of the opening frame but a three-goal run by Saint Anselm opened a 7-1 lead. Senior Sheila Gadbois (Southborough, Mass.), junior Ellie Richards (Reading, Mass.), and Sullivan cashed in on the run but a goal in the final minute by Anevay Rice made the score 7-2 at the end of the first quarter.

Antonella Mikolyuk opened the second frame scoring, which cut the lead to four before Cobain and Sam Giordano traded goals. The Giordano goal cut the Saint Anselm lead to four, which is the closest the contest would get for the remainder of the game. The Hawks would net four of the final five goals of the half, taking a 12-5 advantage to the halftime intermission.

Cobain, Palmisano, and Balboni combined to score the three Hawks goals in the third quarter as Saint Anselm outscored American International by a 3-1 margin in the stanza before holding a 4-1 edge over the final 15 minutes of play. Junior Julia Silk (North Andover, Mass.) recorded her first collegiate point with an assist on the final goal of the game.