Women's Lacrosse Downs Sage for First Win

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

ALBANY, N.Y. – The Elms College women's lacrosse team collected their first victory of the season, defeating host Sage College, 12-7, in a non-conference match at John Fallon Field, on the campus of the University of Albany, Thursday evening.

The Gators grabbed an early two goal lead as graduate attacker Shirah Fudin (Delmar, N.Y.) converted a free position attempt at the 29:20 mark, followed by an unassisted strike less than two minutes later. The Blazers battled back as senior midfielder Kayla Narey (South Hadley, Mass.) beat Gators goalkeeper Jackie St. Pierre to the low left side, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Elms senior attacker Nora McDonough (South Hadley, Mass.) took over in the sixth minute of play, netting a pair of goals in a 48-second span to give the Blazers a 3-2 advantage with 23:09 left in the first half. Elms continued to their offensive surge as senior attacker Jillian Pirog (Ludlow, Mass.) gathered a loose ball in front of the Gators goal, and fired a shot into the back of the net, extending the Blazers lead to 4-2.

The Gators returned to the scoreboard with 12:03 remaining in the half on an unassisted goal from sophomore attacker Monica Koralus (Verbank, N.Y.). Sage tied the contest at 4-4 as freshman midfielder Alyssa Nellis (Johnstown, N.Y.) converted off a free position, working a give-and-go with Koralus at the 11:27 mark. Elms regained control as freshman midfielder Madison Jung (Stafford Springs, Conn.) put back a rebound on her initial shot to stake the Blazers to a 5-4 lead. Narey struck again with another free position goal with 9:40 on the clock. Less than a minute later, Sage trimmed their deficit to 6-5 as Koralus netted a man-advantage goal for the Gators.

With 4:41 remaining in the first half, Elms freshman attacker Haley Roberts (Westfield, Mass.) found open space in the attack zone, cut towards the net and dropped off a pass to freshman midfielder Madison Crawford (Bennington, Vt.) on the wing, where she registered her first career goal on a rip to the upper corner, giving the Blazers a 7-5 lead. With under two minutes remaining, Narey sliced through the Gators defense on a run from the top of the attack zone, and whistled a shot past St. Pierre, to send Elms into the half leading 8-5.

The Gators struck first in the second half on a tally from Fudin less than two minutes into the period. The Blazers answered three minutes later as Pirog delivered an unassisted goal at the 25:29 mark. The Gators quickly trimmed their deficit back to two as Koralus recorded a hat trick with 23:33 on the clock. After nearly 10 minutes of scoreless play, Narey broke the drought as she converted her third free position attempt of the game, giving the Blazers a 10-7 advantage. With 3:03 to play, Narey delivered her final goal of the day, her fifth of the game. Pirog pushed her days total to three goals with a strike in the final minute of play, sending the Blazers to the 12-7 win over Sage. 

Narey led all scorers with a game-high five goals, including three from free position attempts. Pirog registered her first hat trick of the season with a trio of goals, while McDonough added a pair in the first half. Crawford and Jung rounded out the scoring for Elms. Sophomore goalkeeper Meeghan O'Connor (Fall River, Mass.) earned her first win of the season with eight saves.

Sage was paced by three-goal efforts from Koralus and Fudin. Koralus added an assist in the win, while Nellis added a goal for the Gators. St. Pierre (0-2) stopped a game-high 15 shots in the loss.

The Blazers outshot the Gators, 32-21, during the contest. The squads finished even at 10-10 in draw controls, while Elms caused 26 turnovers to the 21 of the Gators.

With the win, Elms improves to 1-3 on the season, while Sage drops to 0-2 overall. The Blazers will look to remain in the win column with a home tilt against Rhode Island College Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Sage will square off with MCLA at Williams College Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.

ELMS LACROSSE