ELON, N.C. – The Elon women’s lacrosse team was not able to hold off league-leader Hofstra as the Pride overtook the Phoenix in the final minutes for a 10-9 victory today, April 17, in Rhodes Stadium.
Elon (8-7, 1-4) led 9-7 with 10:21 remaining before Hofstra (10-4, 5-0) scored three goals in the final seven minutes, including the game winner with 51 seconds left, to take the win over the Phoenix.
The maroon and gold took 14 shots in the game, held the advantage in ground balls, 16-9, and went 15-of-19 in clear attempts. Stephanie Asher claimed five of Elon’s seven draw controls, while goalie Rachel Ramirez picked up a game-high five ground balls and tallied 14 saves against the Pride.
Elon saw four points in the game from Asher, three goals and one assist, while Molly Garrigan also netted three scores. Anna Vitton recorded two goals followed by one from Nicole Sinacori. The Phoenix also saw two assists from Sloane Kessler and one by Kelli Stack.
After Hofstra took a 1-0 lead, the Phoenix responded with a Sinacori score 35 seconds later to even the score at the 24:50 mark. Garrigan then gave Elon its first lead, 2-1, off an Asher assist with 20:07 to play in the half.
With the game even two-all, the maroon and gold rattled off three straight scores, including two by Asher and one by Vitton, to give the Phoenix a 5-2 advantage at the 10:51 mark. The two squads exchanged scores before the half for Elon to lead by three goals, 6-3, at the break.
The Pride tallied a man-up goal less than two minutes into the second frame before the Phoenix answered off a man-down score by Garrigan and extended its advantage to four, 8-4, off Vitton’s second goal of the day with 22:25 remaining.
Hofstra managed three straight scores in the span of four minutes to close the gap to one, 8-7, before Asher netted a goal to put Elon back up by two, 9-7, with 10:21 left in the game. The Pride then managed to hold off the Phoenix and score the final three scores to take the one-point win.
The Pride outshot the Phoenix, 32-14, won 14 draw controls and finish 12-of-13 in clears. Hofstra saw a team-high three goals from Katie Kirk along with two goals and two assists from Brittain Altomare. Kelsey Gregerson claimed the win between the pipes with three saves on the day.
Elon plays its final regular-season game on Sunday, April 19, when it hosts Drexel at 1 p.m. in Rhodes Stadium.