WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Senior Annie Richards (Reading, Mass.) became the first Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse student-athlete to reach 100 career assists in the team's 10-6 loss to No. 23 University of New Haven on Saturday.
With the loss, the No. 20 Hawks fall to 7-6 on the season and 5-5 in Northeast-10 Conference play while the Chargers improve to 10-5 overall and 6-5 in league contests. The Hawks open a three-game final week of the season on Wednesday, Apr. 27 with their final home game of the 2022 regular season against Bentley University. Saint Anselm will honor its senior class with a pregame ceremony.
Richards, who was already the program's career assists leader, has now posted a career-high 33 assists this season and has hit at least 32 assists in each of the last two seasons.
Senior Jenna Balboni (Billerica, Mass.) moves into a tie for 10th in all-time points after she registered two goals and two assists for four points in the contest. Balboni ties Erica Mattila '18 with 144 career points.
Seniors Taylor Cobain (Smithfield, R.I.) and Olivia Smyrnios (Lynnfield, Mass.) and sophomores Alison Ferullo (North Andover, Mass.) and Jess Sullivan (Wrentham, Mass.) all netted one goal each for the Hawks.
Senior Grace Young (Merrimack, N.H.) stopped 12 shots on goal for the Hawks. Young falls to 7-6 on the season.
Saint Anselm opened the scoring with an up-goal with one second left in the first quarter as Cobain crashed the net and quickly buried a feed from Richards, marking the 100th helper of her career.
New Haven responded with its first goal, also an up-goal, at 12:36 of the second quarter from Mary Rishmany. Ferullo put the Hawks back in front with a down-goal just 1:31 later. However, the Chargers netted three goals from 10:18 to 8:41 of the quarter to take a 4-2 lead to the half. Cameryn Antler, Annie Acquavita, and Reagan Bailey recorded the New Haven goals on the three goal run.
The Chargers held the Hawks off the scoreboard from Ferullo's second quarter tally until Smyrnios found the back of the cage at 14:30 of the fourth stanza. New Haven added four third quarter goals during the Saint Anselm scoring drought. After Smyrnios' tally, Palmisano and Balboni combined to cut the deficit to three at 8-5 with 12:32 left in regulation.
Bailey and Balboni traded goals which pushed the score to 9-6 with 10:03 to play. However, the New Haven defense would lock down and keep Saint Anselm off the scoreboard for the remainder of play, ultimately taking the conference battle by a 10-6 score.
Saint Anselm held a 24-22 advantage in shots on goal. Saint Anselm was 20-for-23 in clears while the Chargers were 19-of-27. New Haven collected 20 ground balls compared to 16 for the Hawks. The Chargers also grabbed 13 draw controls while the Hawks collected six draw controls.
