DAVIDSON, N.C. – Off a career-high matching seven points in the game by Sloane Kessler, the Elon women’s lacrosse team cruised to a 12-6 win at Davidson today, March 19, at Richardson Stadium.
Kessler matched her season high with a game-high four goals in the game and added a season-high three assists to equal her career high in points.
The Phoenix (6-3) outshot the Wildcats, 23-17, and claimed the advantage in ground balls, 18-15. Elon finished a near perfect 13-of-14 in clear attempts and had five caused turnovers. The two teams finished even with 10 draw controls each.
Anna Vitton and Abby Godfrey both followed with two scores on the day, while Nicole Sinacori also had two points with a goal and an assist. Maeve Cowley, Shelby Scanlin and Kelsey Dupere also notched scores for the maroon and gold. Olivia Fernandez tallied a game-high four ground balls, while Scanlin led the Phoenix at the draw with four draw controls.
Rachel Ramirez tallied her sixth win of the season between the pipes, playing for almost 55 minutes for a 44.4 save percentage after four saves off 10 shots-on-goal by the Wildcats. Tori Cipollone played her first minutes of the season, seeing action in the final five minutes of the game.
The Wildcats (3-4) notched six goals off its 17 shots, 10 of which were on goal, went 11-of-14 in clear attempts and had eight caused turnovers. Lucy Sexton and Emma Sissman both netted two goals for the team followed by one each from Christin Molinari and Jean Atkinson. Molinari also handed out two assists, while Sissman had one to help lead the team with three points. Rose Woolson took the loss after allowing 10 of Elon’s goals and posting one save.
Highlights
Elon’s Alexis Zadjura won the opening draw that allowed Sinacori get the ball to Vitton to put the Phoenix up 1-0 less than a minute into the game. After a Davidson turnover, Fernandez claimed a ground ball that led to a Kessler score at the 26:18 mark.
The Wildcats notched its first score on a free-position goal to make it a 2-1 game before Sinacori caused a Davidson turnover and grabbed the groundball for Kessler to net her second straight goal to put the maroon and gold back up by two, 3-1, with 21:01 on the clock. A ground ball pickup by Fernandez after another Wildcat turnover allowed for a Godfrey score, her fourth of the season,
Davidson responded less than a minute later to close the gap to two, 4-2, with 17:46 remaining. After a free-position attempt, the Phoenix offense found Kessler for her third goal of the day and 19th of the season with 15:32 left. Kessler found Dupere less than two minutes later for the fifth goal of the year by the sophomore and Kessler’s seventh assist. Elon took a 7-2 lead into the break after Sinacori netted the final goal of the half with 5:44 remaining.
In the second half, the Phoenix notched two quick scores in the first three minutes after goals by Vitton, from Kessler, and Cowley to move ahead 9-2. After a Davidson score, Godfrey netted a free-position goal at the 24:44 mark before Kessler found Scanlin just 31 seconds later for an 11-3 lead.
With 18:43 to play, a ground ball pickup by Kelli Stack allowed Kessler to score her fourth goal of the day to match her career high in points. The Wildcats managed two scores in the final six minutes for the final six-goal advantage by the Phoenix.
Next Up
The Phoenix makes the short trek to High Point for its next game on Tuesday, March 22. Game time is set for 7 p.m. in High Point, N.C., at Vert Stadium.