ELON, N.C. – The Elon University women’s lacrosse team earned its fourth-straight victory against Liberty today, March 28, with a 13-8 win over the Flames in Rhodes Stadium.
Elon (7-3) played a tough game with the Flames, with the score remaining very close until the Phoenix pulled away in the end. The maroon and gold had 30 shots on the day and won 17 draw controls. Elon was also 14-for-21 on clear attempts and went 2-for-9 on free-position shots.
Seven players scored goals on the afternoon for the Phoenix. Stephanie Asher notched a team-high five goals while Nicole Sinacori and Kelsey Dupere tallied two goals each. Abby Godfrey, Sloane Kessler, Molly Garrigan and Anna Vitton also scored for the Phoenix. Asher also led the team with two assists with Dupere Godfrey, Kessler and Sinacori each adding one assist to their stat line. Rachel Ramirez played the full game in goal, recording seven saves on the day in the win.
The first half started off with Sinacori scoring in the first minute of the game with an assist from Kessler. Asher followed with an unassisted goal to put Elon up 2-0. Liberty responded with its own goal to bring the deficit back to one, but Kessler put it back up to a two-goal differential with an unassisted goal. Liberty scored the next three goals to take a 4-3 lead around the 15th minute mark. Elon then responded with its own three-goal spree with Dupere notching in two and Asher putting in one making the score to 6-4. The Flames scored twice before the half with Elon splitting them with its own score as Asher put in her third goal on the day as the Phoenix went into halftime up 7-6.
The second half started off with Liberty putting a goal in within two minutes of the starting whistle. Asher responded with the next two goals both within a minute of each other. Elon continued its scoring run with a goal by Godfrey off an assist from Asher bringing the score up to 10-7. Elon controlled most of the second half only allowing one more goal while adding three of its own. Scoring shortly after Godfrey’s score was Molly Garrigan as she whipped one in at the 26th minute mark from an assist from Godfrey. Vitton tallied her own goal with an assist from Sinacori, bringing the score to 12-7. Sinacori concluded the scoring for the maroon and gold with an assist from Dupere. Liberty scored once in the last three minutes, but the Phoenix defense held up until the final whistle with the closing score of 13-8 in favor of Elon.
Liberty (2-8) put up 20 shots in the match. The Flames also pulled in 21 ground balls on the day. Liberty was 1-for-2 in free-position shots and was 13-for-15 on clears in the game. Michaela Rich had two goals in the game and Sam Struss had three assists for the Flames. Goalkeeper Juliann Elmer played the full match and had eleven saves for Liberty.
The Phoenix begins Colonial Athletic Association play next weekend, beginning with a game at three-time defending CAA Champion Towson on Friday, April 3, at 7 p.m. in Towson, Md.