WEST HAVEN, Conn. - The No. 6 seed and nationally-ranked No. 22 Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team fell to No. 3 seed and nationally-ranked No. 21 the University of New Haven, 10-7, in the Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) Quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon from Kathy Zolad Stadium. The Hawks concluded the 2024 season with an 11-7 overall record and went 7-4 in league play.
Score: No. 22 (6 seed) Saint Anselm 7, No. 21 (3 seed) New Haven 10
Records: No. 22 (6 seed) Saint Anselm 11-7; No. 21 (3 seed) New Haven 12-5
Location: West Haven, Conn. (Kathy Zolad Stadium)
Date: Saturday, May 4, 2024
Attendance: 184
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Senior Jess Sullivan (Wrentham, Mass.) fired the first shot on goal for Saint Anselm less than a minute in that New Haven goaltender Gabby Buscemi was able to save. The Chargers got on the scoreboard on their first offensive possession of the game with a goal by Katie Schenk to take a 1-0 edge.
- At the 11:54 mark of the opening quarter, Hawks junior goaltender Elizabeth Driscoll (Marblehead, Mass.) produced her first stops of the afternoon after denying a pair of shots by Schenk, including one that was during a player-down situation.
- A few minutes later, Sullivan leveled the score at 1-1, scoring her first of the game for Saint Anselm with just under 10 minutes left in the first quarter.
- The Hawks later ripped three consecutive shot featuring two from senior Maggie Fitzgerald (Holliston, Mass.), but Buscemi corralled both to keep the game tied.
- The Chargers took a 2-1 lead at the end of the quarter following the second goal of the day for Schenk.
- Fitzgerald opened the second period with a shot that rang off the crossbar. After another save by Driscoll, Sullivan connected with junior Abigail Christmas (Elmira, N.Y.), who tallied her first goal of the game to tie the score at 2-2.
- New Haven immediately responded by scoring a minute later to reclaim a one-goal advantage. Gianna Caprioli picked up a goal for the Chargers and then Schenk notched her hat trick a few minutes later to give her team a 4-2 lead.
- With 3:29 left in the half, the Chargers scored an up-goal with Summer Castiglione finding the back of the net to give the home team a 5-2 lead heading into halftime.
- Saint Anselm started the third quarter by firing the opening three shot attempts. Two of those were free-position attempts by freshman Lucy Mawn (Harwich, Mass.) and Sullivan, but neither crossed the goal line.
- Junior Samantha Rivet (Sudbury, Mass.) answered for the Hawks at the 12:48 mark of the third with a free-position score to cut the Chargers lead down to two goals.
- Sullivan then potted her second of the game approximately three minutes later to make it a 5-4 game.
- With less than five minutes to go in the quarter, Schenk countered by tallying her fourth goal for New Haven on the player-advantage.
- Before the end of the third, Christmas earned her second score of the day on a free-position attempt to narrow the Chargers lead back down to one-goal going into the final quarter.
- New Haven's Ivanna Hernandez wasted no time in the fourth quarter, scoring just 36 seconds in to put the Chargers up, 7-5.
- Under a minute later, senior Alison Ferullo (North Andover, Mass.) found the back of the cage at the 13:32 mark to make it a 7-6 game.
- New Haven then went on to score three consecutive goals featuring the fifth goal of the game for Schenk that put them ahead, 10-6.
- Senior Isabella Stuzynski (Bedford, Mass.) tallied a late score in the quarter off an assist from Sullivan, but New Haven sealed their win by a final score of 10-7.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- New Haven outshot Saint Anselm by a 32-23 margin and also held a 25-14 edge in shots on goal.
- The Chargers won 14 draw controls and scooped up 19 ground balls in comparison to the Hawks with just six draw controls and 13 ground balls.
- The Hawks had 14 turnovers in the contest, while the Chargers registered 10 giveaways. Saint Anselm and New Haven each recorded seven caused turnovers with senior Kylee Horlbeck (Norwell, Mass.) leading the Hawks defense with a team-high three caused turnovers.
- The Hawks went 18-for-19 on clear attempts in comparison to the Chargers clearing 14 of their 16 attempts.
- Both teams posted two free-position goals in the game with Christmas and Rivet each earning one free-position score apiece for the Hawks.
- Sullivan led Saint Anselm with two goals and two assists for four points. Christmas also registered a pair of scores for the Hawks while Ferullo, Rivet, and Stuzynski posted one goal apiece in the game.
- Sullivan also led her side with three draw controls while Doyle, Ferullo, and Horlbeck each snagged one draw control apiece.
- Schenk ended the day by scoring five of New Haven's 10 goals for five points along with nine shots on goal, seven draw controls, one ground ball, and a caused turnover.
- Driscoll picked up the loss after playing the entire game in the cage for Saint Anselm, posting 15 saves and allowing 10 goals along with a team-high seven ground balls.
- This marked the 25th meeting between these two programs as New Haven improved to an 18-7 record against Saint Anselm in the all-time series.
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