WORCESTER, Mass. – Sophomore
Julia Rowley (Dover, N.H.) scored two goals, including the eventual game-winner with five minutes remaining, as the Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team held on for a 10-9 win against Assumption in Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) action on Wednesday night. Seven student-athletes scored in the victory for the Hawks, who improved to 11-4 overall and 6-3 in NE10 play. Sophomore
Alyssa Hill (Brookline, N.H.) led all players with five points on two goals and three assists for Saint Anselm.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm has the weekend off before traveling to Pleasantville, N.Y. to take on #9 Pace in the final game of the regular season on Wednesday, April 23rd at 7:00 p.m.
Score: Saint Anselm 10, Assumption 9
Records: Saint Anselm (11-4, 6-3 NE10), Assumption (4-8, 3-5 NE10)
Location: Worcester, Mass. (Brian Kelly Stadium)
Date: Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Attendance: 255
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Saint Anselm used a strong start to take a commanding 4-0 lead in the first quarter. Freshman Ayla McDermod (Hanover, Mass.) and Hill both found the back of the net in the opening five minutes, and later in the quarter, seniors Samantha Rivet (Sudbury, Mass.) and Jaycie Balboni (Billerica, Mass.) scored 21 seconds apart for the Hawks.
- Senior goaltender Elizabeth Driscoll (Marblehead, Mass.) made two saves in the final three minutes of the first period for Saint Anselm. She denied a pair of free-position shots by Assumption to keep the home team off the board. The Hawks doubled up the Greyounds in total shots, 10-5, through the opening 15 minutes of play.
- Less than five minutes into the second quarter, Hill scored her second goal of the night on a player-up opportunity as the Hawks made it a 5-0 game.
- Midway through the second, the Greyhounds finally broke through as Molly Weiand scored to make it 5-1.
- Senior Kendra Sabotka (Rutland, Vt.) helped Saint Anselm respond with a goal a little over a minute later. Rowley added another player-up score for the Hawks a few minutes after that as they were in full control with a 7-1 edge.
- Assumption was able to end the first half on a positive note as Annika Pyy scored with 15 seconds left, but Saint Anselm still held a 7-2 lead at halftime.
- Early in the second half, Katelynn Johnston notched her first goal of the game as the Greyhounds cut the deficit to four goals.
- Sabtoka answered again for the Hawks with her second goal of the evening as the visitors increased their lead to 8-3.
- Johnston netted another score for the home team shortly after to bring the margin back down to four, but junior Lucy Davis (Roswell, Ga.) countered with another player-up score for Saint Anselm off a feed from Hill as they made it a 9-4 game.
- Assumption started to make things interesting as they began to close the gap before the end of the third quarter. Johnston generated her third goal of the period, while Weiand added her second just over a minute later.
- 37 seconds into the fourth quarter, Weiand produced her third goal of the night as the Greyhounds made it 9-7 and started to shift the momentum in their favor.
- The offense came to a bit of a halt after that as both goalies came up with some timely saves. Driscoll made three saves for the Hawks at one end, while Skylar Troyan matched that effort with three stops at the other end for the Greyhounds, including one on a free-position shot.
- After going over 16 minutes without scoring, Saint Anselm added a much-needed insurance tally that made it 10-7 with 5:21 remaining. Rowley collected her second goal of the game off a pass from Hill during another player-up scenario for the Hawks.
- Assumption continued to fight and attempted a late comeback. With 3:49 left in the game, Mallory Bartlett ripped a free-position shot past Driscoll that cut the deficit to 10-8. Kyle Johnston also scored for the Greyhounds and made it a one-goal game with 1:14 left.
- After calling a timeout, the Hawks were able to win the ensuing draw control and ran out the remaining time to escape with the 10-9 victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Assumption held a slight 32-30 edge in total shots, while Saint Anselm finished with a 21-18 lead in shots on goal.
- The Hawks dominated the center circle and doubled up the Greyhounds with a 15-7 advantage in draw controls. McDermod recorded a career-high six draw controls to lead the visitors.
- Assumption maintained a significant 26-16 lead in ground balls. Balboni and Rivet led Saint Anselm with three ground balls apiece.
- Saint Anselm committed 20 turnovers in the game, while Assumption had 18 giveaways.
- The Greyhounds defense caused 17 of those turnovers, while the Hawks defense forced 10 turnovers. Rivet produced three caused turnovers to lead the Hawks.
- On clear attempts, Saint Anselm went 18-25 (72.0%) and Assumption went 15-22 (68.2%).
- The Greyhounds went 2-6 (33.3%) on free-position shots. The Hawks were held scoreless on five free-position chances.
- The game featured 12 penalties: eight by Assumption and four by Saint Anselm. There were six green cards and six yellow cards issued. As a result, the Hawks scored five player-up goals in the contest, while the Greyhounds finished with just one player-up score.
- Hill led Saint Anselm with a game-high five points on two goals and three assists. It was her fourth straight game with at least three helpers. She leads the team with 30 assists (fourth in NE10) and 53 points (seventh in NE10) this spring.
- Rowley and Sabotka both scored twice for the Hawks as well. Sabtoka also added an assist for three points. She ranks third on the team with 26 goals this year and is tied for third on the squad with 39 points.
- Katelynn Johnston and Weiand each scored three goals for Assumption in the loss.
- Driscoll set a season-high with 15 saves and posted a .609 save percentage for the Hawks in the win. She now has 35 career victories between the pipes, which extends her own program record, and is 26 saves away from reaching 500 for her career.
- Troyan made 15 saves and allowed 10 goals for the Greyhounds in the loss.
- This marked the 27th all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm improves to 17-10 overall against Assumption in the series that began in 2000.
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