Elon WLAX Phoenix Cruises to 15-8 Win Over Lancers

ELON, N.C. – The Elon women’s lacrosse team improved to 2-0 on the season with a commanding 15-8 win over Longwood today, Feb. 14, at Rudd Field. Stephanie Asher matched her career high with six goals in the game and added two assists to post eight points in the game.

Sloane Kessler scored four goals for the maroon and gold and also had two assists. Maeve Cowley finished with two scores to bring her season total to three, while Shelby Scanlin, Nicole Sinacori and Kelsey Dupere all contributed one goal on the day. Amanda Romano, who tallied an assist, won a team-high three draws.

Rachel Ramirez recorded her second win between the pipes, posting seven saves and a team-high four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Asher also picked up four ground balls, while Abby Godfrey picked up three and won two draws.

The Phoenix outshot the Lancers (0-2), 38-19, and claimed a 23-10 advantage in ground balls. Elon won 14 draws compared to 12 by Longwood, while the maroon and gold finished 14-of-17 in clear attempts and the Lancers 10-of-13.

Highlights
Asher netted Elon’s first goal less than a minute in off a free-position shot. The sophomore tallied two more scores by the 24:56 mark to make it a 3-0 lead for the Phoenix.

The Lancers got on the board off a man-up goal by Katie McHugh with 22:34 remaining. A free-position goal by Cowley at the 12:42 mark sparked a 3-0 run for the Phoenix that included scores by Asher and Kessler to give the maroon and gold a 6-1 lead with under three minutes left in the half. The Lancers tallied its second goal of the game for a 6-2 Elon advantage at the break.

Dupere notched her first goal of the season 29 seconds into the second half before Kessler scored three straight in the span of less than four minutes to extend Elon’s lead, 10-2, with 14:32 on the clock.

The Lancers scored four of the next six goals to pull within six, 12-6, at the 6:32 mark before Scanlin and Sinacori netted two goals for the Phoenix in just over a minute to move the advantage back to eight, 14-6, with 3:29 to play.

Asher posted her eighth goal of the season with 1:30 left on the clock to cap the scoring and give the Phoenix the final seven-goal differential.

Notes
Elon owns a 3-0 record all-time against Longwood, playing the Lancers each year of the program’s existence…Asher’s eight points fell one shy of her career-high nine, which is also a program record…The Lancers saw a team-high three goals from Sarah Butler followed by two each from Madison Stair and Katie McHugh…Imani West took the loss at goal for LU and finished the game with 12 total saves.

Next Up
Elon travels to Conway, S.C., for its first road game of the season in its next outing on Friday, Feb. 19, to take on Coastal Carolina. Game time is set for 3 p.m.