WORCESTER, Mass. – Behind hat trick performances by junior Alyssa Hill and sophomore Ayla McDermod, the No. 21 nationally-ranked and fifth-seeded Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team defeated fourth-seeded Assumption University by a final score of 11-8 in a Northeast 10 Conference Quarterfinal round victory at Brian Kelly '83 Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Highlights

• Hill recorded a team-high five points coming off three goals and two assists.
• McDermod's three-goal output pushed her to 100 goals on her career. She tacked on one assist, one ground ball, and five draw controls.
• Juniors Julia Rowley and Lucy Mawn each posted a pair of goals. Mawn added three craw controls and one caused turnover.
• Sophomore Devin Spinale (one assist) and freshman Kendall Herrick (one goal) rounded out the point contributions for the Hawks.
• Senior Julia Marsden posted three caused turnovers.
• Junior Eliza Vecchio had four ground balls, a team-best, and one caused turnover.
• Senior Elyse Scales scooped two ground balls.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Aiko Fujita made 11 saves in the victory while securing a pair of ground balls.
• Saint Anselm avenged a 14-11 loss coming back on April 15 on home turf. The Hawks are now 18-11 through 29 matchups against the Greyhounds.

How it Happened

Saint Anselm opened the scoring just over six minutes in as McDermod finished a free from Spinale, but Assumption quickly answered with a man-up goal to level the score. The Hawks responded with back-to-back tallies from Herrick and Hill to take a two-goal lead before the hosts used a two-goal swing to tie things up at 3-3. Mawn capped off the quarter with an unassisted goal to give the Hawks a one-goal edge after 15 minutes.

The Hawks' lead grew back to two goals early in the second quarter as McDermod found the back of the net for her second of the game. The Greyhounds scored twice in a span of 1:18 to tie it once again, 5-5, with 12:04 left in the half. Saint Anselm took a lead into the break as Rowley scored with 8:17 to play, making it 6-5.

Out of the break, Saint Anselm seized control with a three-goal burst as Rowley, Hill, and McDermod scored in quick succession to push the lead to four goals. Assumption scored a man-up goal with 2:12 left in the third before Hill scored her third of the game to give the Hawks a four-goal cushion heading into the fourt.

In the final period, the Greyhounds converted another man-up opportunity to bring Assumption within three, but Mawn answered to make it 11-7 in favor of the Hawks. Despite a late Assumption goal, the Hawks held on to punch their ticket to the next round.

Up Next

The Hawks (11-6) will head down to Long Island for a matchup with top-seeded Adelphi University (11-4), ranked No. 12 in the nation, on Wednesday, April 29 with a 4 p.m. start time from Motamed Field in the NE10 Semifinals.