ELON, N.C. – Off the scores of eight different Phoenix players, the Elon women’s lacrosse team claimed its first win in program history in the form of a 16-7 victory over Saint Francis its first home game today, March 1, in Rhodes Stadium.
Elon (1-3) saw five goals from Sloane Kessler, along with one assist, three by Sydney Hesselbein and two by both Anna Vitton and Olivia Fernandez. Ally Kozel, Elle Hvozdovic and Megan Weissman also joined in the maroon and gold scoring effort.
The Phoenix outshot the Red Flash, 41-21, and won 18 of the 24 draws. The Phoenix finished 10-of-11 on clear attempts, picked up 14 ground balls and scored on 5-of-7 free-position shots. Goalie Rachel Ramirez recorded her first win between the pipes after seven saves in the game.
SFU got on the board first after a goal by Rachel Larson, before the maroon and gold answered by rattling off goals by Vitton, Kozel, Hesselbein and two by Kessler by the 10:32 mark to take a 5-1 advantage. After free-position goals by both teams, Vitton and Kessler each netted another goal to make it an 8-2 Phoenix lead at the break.
The Red Flash opened the second frame with two free-position goals, the first a man-up opportunity, to close the gap to four, 8-4, with 22:50 left in the game. After both squads traded off goals, SFU scored its second straight free-position goal to make it only a three-goal edge for the Phoenix, 10-7, with less than 10 minutes to play.
Elon shut the door quickly on SFU’s attempt at a comeback, netting two goals in the next minute, including Kessler’s fifth goal of the game, to move the advantage back to five, 12-7. After Weissman’s score off an assist from Annie Shenk made it 13-7 with 6:47 remaining, the Phoenix scored three goals in the final 90 seconds to finish off the Red Flash by a nine-goal differential.
Overall, St Francis finished 10-of-12 in clear attempts, scored on 6-of-7 free-position shots and picked up only four ground balls. Red Flash goalie Savannah Shores recorded 15 saves, while all scoring efforts for the team came from Danielle Conwell (four goals) and Larson (three goals).
Elon will remain home at Rhodes Stadium when it plays its first Atlantic Sun game on Wednesday, March 5, against Detroit at 7 p.m.