Neyland Nets Five Goals in 12-8 Win at Hartford

Sunday, April 18

West Hartford, Conn.

12 PM

University of New Hampshire

3-4, 2-3AE

Hartford

0-7, 0-7AE

New Hampshire

HARTFORD

Photo by: Michelle Bronner

4/18/2021 3:41:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Senior Julia Neyland (Boxborough, Mass.) scored five second-half goals to propel the University of New Hampshire women's lacrosse team to Sunday afternoon's 12-8 win against the University of Hartford at Al-Marzook Field.

Grad student Rylee Leonard (Coventry, R.I.) tallied two goals and two assists – all in the first half – to finish with four points. Sophomore Liv Dunn (Newbury, Mass.) recorded two goals and an assist, and freshman Kelsey MacCallum (Franklin, Mass.) had two points with a goal and an assist.

Junior goalie Issy Torres (Elmhurst, Ill.) made eight of her 11 saves in the second half.

Hartford was led offensively by Birdie Montes (3g, 1a), Debbie Phillips (2g, 1a) and Megan Miller (1g, 2a). H Ramsey was credited with 13 saves.

UNH improved to 3-4 on the season and 2-3 in America East, and is scheduled to return to action April 21 (1 p.m.) against Binghamton University at home. Hartford is 0-7 both overall and in the conference.

First Half

There were three ties and two lead changes in the opening 30 minutes.
Leonard set up Dunn to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead 82 seconds into the game.
Miller tied the score, 1-1, at 25:33.
Leonard scored a free-position goal at 23:03 and senior Elizabeth Blanding (Pittsford, N.Y.) netted an unassisted goal 45 seconds later to give the 'Cats a 3-1 lead at 22:18.
Hartford scored three consecutive goals – Birdie's tallies at 17:28 and 10:31 were sandwiched around Phillips' goal at 15:03 – to take a 4-3 lead.
Dunn once again finished a feed from Leonard to forge a 4-4 tie at 6:47 and then the duo reversed roles as Dunn assisted on Leonard's goal at 4:43 that put UNH back in front, 5-4.
Phillips struck again at 2:15 to knot the score at 5.
MacCallum's first career goal – also her first career point – on a free position with 56 seconds on the clock gave New Hampshire a 6-5 lead heading into halftime.

Second Half

UNH opened the second half with three consecutive goals to build its largest lead of the game, 9-5, and the Hawks never got closer than two goals the rest of the way.
Torres denied Kaitlyn D'Andrea at 27:51 and then Miller at 25:38 to preserve the Wildcats' 6-5 lead.
Junior Emily Curtis (Walpole, Mass.) scored a player-up goal at 16:44 to extend the margin to two goals, 7-5. MacCallum recorded her first career assist on the tally.
Senior Tatum Benesh (Horseheads, N.Y.) won the ensuing draw control, and Neyland scored 53 seconds after Curtis to give the 'Cats an 8-5 lead at 15:51.
Benesh once again controlled the draw, and an extended possession produced another Neyland goal and a 9-5 advantage at 13:50.
Hartford called a timeout and Taylor Calvagna scored 18 seconds later to trim the deficit to 9-6.
She struck again at 9:49 to shrink the margin to two goals, 9-7.
The Hawks won the ensuing draw control, but Torres made a save against Jessica Harrison. UNH advanced the ball into the attack zone and Neyland's third goal of the game reestablished a three-goal lead, 10-7, at 7:31.
Montes' goal lifted the home team within 10-8 at 5:26. Hartford once again controlled the draw, but once again Torres made a big save – this time denying Shannon Tuozzo on a free position at 4:55.
Freshman Olivia O'Connor (Hopkinton, Mass.) corralled the ground ball off that rebound, and that led to Neyland's fourth goal of the game and an 11-8 lead at 4:00.
Hartford controlled the draw, but Torres denied Harrison yet again at 3:21 to ground the Hawks' comeback bid.
Neyland beat the final horn by scoring with one second remaining on the clock.

Game Notebook

UNH recorded the edge in shots (38-37), shots on goal (25-19), ground balls (21-17) and turnovers (15-19).
Hartford had a 13-8 advantage in draw controls.
UNH was successful on 21 of 28 clear attempts; Hartford was 17-for-18.

UNH Notebook

Leonard matched her season high of four points.
O'Connor tied for the team lead in both ground balls (three) and draw controls (two).
Sophomore Jessie Hounchell (Manchester, N.H.) was also credited with three ground balls.
Benesh and Leonard each had two draw controls.
Freshman Mackenzie MacEachern (Bedford, N.H.) led the 'Cats with two caused turnovers; she also had two ground balls.
Neyland had a team-high nine shots, six on goal.
Neyland's five goals were one less than her career high of six established March 20 against UMBC.

Series Notebook

UNH has a 3-0 lifetime record against Hartford.

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