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University of New Hampshire Athletics
University of New Hampshire
4-7, 1-2
UMASS Lowell
0-12, 0-3
Puccia's Career-High Seven Goals Propels Women's Lax to 22-6 Win at UMass Lowell
4/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
LOWELL, Mass. -- Laura Puccia (Fairport, N.Y.) scored a career-high seven goals, all in the first half, to propel the University of New Hampshire women's lacrosse team to Wednesday night's 22-6 America East conference victory against the University of Massachusetts Lowell at Cushing Field.
UNH, which recorded season highs in goals, assists (13), points (35), shots (42) and draw controls (18), improves to 4-7 overall and 1-2 in America East; the 22 goals marked the Wildcats' highest total since April 28, 2007, when they also scored 22 at Binghamton University. UML moves to 0-12, 0-3.
Puccia's seven points also marked a personal best; she entered the game tied at No. 8 with Nicole Rhodes with 118 career goals and increased her total to 125 to claim sole possession of No. 8.
Kayleigh Hinkle (Glenelg, Md.; two goals, three assists) and Laura McHoul (Westwood, Mass.; one goal, four assists) both recorded five points. Hinkle matched her personal best of six draw controls.
Five other Wildcats recorded multiple points. Marissa Gurello (Manorville, N.Y.) matched her career high of three goals and also had an assist for four points. Rachael Nock (Severna Park, Md.) equaled her best of three assists and added a goal for her four points. Krissy Schafer (Longmeadow, Mass.) scored a career-high three goals while both Nicole Grote (Ellicott City, Md.) and Teagan Northrup (Longmeadow, Mass.) finished with a goal and an assist.
UNH starting goalkeeper Kate Clancy (Barrington, R.I.) played the first half and was credited with two saves and two goals against. Sarah Lambert (Auburn, N.H.) stopped two of six shots on goal. Carly Wooters (White Plains, N.Y.) contributed four draw controls, two ground balls and two caused turnovers.
New Hampshire's other goal scorers were Becca Graves (Rowley, Mass.), Lexi Moirano (Vero Beach, Fla.) and Rebecca Sennott (Westford, Mass.). It was the first career point for both Moirano and Sennott.
All told, 11 'Cats recorded a point, 16 corralled a ground ball, 10 had a draw control and eight were credited with a caused turnover.
UMass Lowell was led offensively by Jesse Jay (1g, 2a) and Micaela Sanborn (1g, 1a). Starting goalie Courtney Barrett exited the game when UNH took a 19-3 lead at 17:46 of the second half; she made nine saves. Olivia Wisner made two saves and surrendered three goals in her relief appearance.
UNH won the game's opening draw control but McHoul's first shot ricocheted off the post and then she was denied by Barrett. Moments later, Grote was also stopped by Barrett.
The River Hawks struck first on an Erin Hatch goal at 27:26 and Emily Wright scored 57 seconds later to give the home team a 2-0 lead.
The Wildcats ended the half with 15 consecutive goals as part of a 17-0 run. Gurello's goal at 24:54 began the spurt and Puccia scored 43 seconds later to tie the score 2-2. She struck again at 22:54 and Graves netted a goal 77 seconds later to give the 'Cats a 4-2 lead.
Northrup and Grote scored 47 seconds apart at 19:20 and 18:33, respectively, and Nock scored two minutes later to extend the advantage to 7-2. Puccia recorded back-to-back goals at 13:02 and 11:49, then McHoul netted a goal 31 seconds later to push the margin to 10-2.
Puccia scored three consecutive goals in a span of 2 minutes, 43 seconds to give UNH a double-digit lead of 13-2 at 4:40 of the first half. Schafer struck with 1:21 on the clock and Nock set up Hinkle's goal with nine seconds left in the first half to advance the score to 15-2 heading into halftime.
Gurello and Schafer opened the second half with free-position goals at 28:53 and 27:27 to give the visitors a 17-2 advantage. UML's Taylor Sokol ended the run with a goal at 23:17, but the Wildcats responded with four consecutive goals by Gurello (at 20:58), Hinkle (17:46), Schafer (16:45) and Sennott (14:22).
The River Hawks netted three straight goals to close within 21-6 before Moirano capped the scoring with one minute to play.
New Hampshire begins a four-game homestand April 4 against UMBC. Game time at Cowell Stadium is 6 p.m.
