Elon WLAX Secures CAA Tournament Berth with 12-9 Road Win Over Tribe

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Controlling its own postseason destiny on the road Friday night, April 26, Elon University women’s lacrosse put together a strong first-half performance to beat William & Mary 12-9 in the CAA regular-season finale for both teams.

BOX SCORE

THE RUNDOWN
Though William & Mary (6-9, 1-5 CAA) scored three of the game’s first four goals to jump out 3-1 nearly seven minutes into the game, Elon (5-11, 3-3 CAA) answered with a big 9-1 run to close the first half and take a commanding 10-4 lead to the break.

During the run, the Phoenix got started with a Gillian Curran goal before Mae McGlynn scored two goals in 35 seconds of game action to take a 4-3 lead. While the Tribe tied the game at 4-4 with 11:51 to play in the opening half, Kaley Thompson added her second, third and fourth goals of the night to complete her hat trick in the opening 23 minutes.

Opening the second half, Quinn Daly put Elon up 11-4 before the Tribe went on a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 11-7 with 12:34 to play to bring a timeout. Out of the stoppage, Shannon Horan put an end to the Tribe run with her second goal of the night to end William & Mary’s momentum and seal the win.

HIGHLIGHTS
Thompson’s four first-half goals led Elon on the night. She also had an assist for a game-high five points. McGlynn, Daly, Curran and Horan each tallied two goals apiece to round out Elon’s scoring with Curran and Horan both also recording an assist. Curran finished her night with six draw controls and Erin Morsheimer picked up a career-high four ground balls in the victory. After a relatively quiet first half, Paulina DiFatta notched 12 saves for her 10th double-digit save performance in 15 games this season.

Lauren Russell led the Tribe with three goals while collecting two draw controls on the night. Meredith Hughes and Belle Martire each added two apiece and Maddie Torgerson led the team with five draw controls. Annalise Lower finished with five ground balls and two caused turnovers and Olivia Harpel had a goal, two ground balls and three caused turnovers.

NOTES
-Gillian Curran scored twice in the game for her first-career two-goal game. She had four goals on the season entering Friday night.
-Shannon Horan tallied two goals to notch her first two strikes of the season.
-Elon has now reached its fourth consecutive CAA Tournament after missing the tournament the first year it was a member of the CAA in 2015.

UP NEXT
Elon will play one final regular season game on Sunday, April 28, when it returns home to host Senior Day against Coastal Carolina. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m. After taking on the Chanticleers, Elon will head for the CAA Championships in Harrisonburg, Va., to take on top-seeded James Madison at 4:05 p.m. on Friday, May 3.