Blanding's Career-High Seven Points Propels 'Cats Past Hartford, 15-10, on Senior Day

Saturday, May 1

Durham, N.H.

11 AM

University of New Hampshire

4-7, 3-6AE

Hartford

0-9, 0-9AE

HARTFORD

New Hampshire

Photo by: China Wong

Blanding's Career-High Seven Points Propels 'Cats Past Hartford, 15-10, on Senior Day

5/1/2021 3:21:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

DURHAM N.H. - Senior Elizabeth Blanding (Pittsford, N.Y.) recorded five goals and two assists while junior goalkeeper Issy Torres (Elmhurst, Ill.) made 14 saves to lead the University of New Hampshire women's lacrosse team to Saturday afternoon's 15-10 Senior Day victory against University of Hartford at Wildcat Stadium.

The five goals and seven points both marked career highs for Blanding, and the two assists equaled her personal best. Torres matched her high of 14 saves and was also credited with three ground balls.

Senior Julia Neyland (Boxborough, Mass) earned four points with three goals and an assist. Grad student Rylee Leonard (Coventry, R.I.) recorded two goals and one assist for a total of three points. Senior Gabby Masseur (Nashua, N.H.) and freshman Kailee Woods (Rocky Point, N.Y.) also scored two goals.

Senior Tatum Benesh (Horseheads, N.Y.) set a career high with six ground balls and matched her personal best of four caused turnovers. Junior Meghan Doyle (Pittsford, N.Y.) finished with two ground balls and three caused turnovers.

Jessica Harrison and Dylan Halloran led Hartford with three goals each, followed by Kaitlyn D'Andrea with two goals in the last five minutes of the game. Starting goalkeeper Hanna Ramsey made three saves and allowed five goals in 15:50 of action; she was charged with the loss. Kya Risher played the final 44:10; she stopped 9 of 19 shots on goal, collected four ground balls and caused two turnovers.

UNH ends the season with a 4-7 record and 3-6 in the America East conference. Hartford finishes its season with a 0-9 record both overall and in the conference.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
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First Half

Halloran scored her first goal of the season and first goal of the game, assisted by Phillips within the first minute of the game (at 29:08).
Masseur began the scoring for the Wildcats with a goal at 26:05 to tie the game 1-1. That tally ignited a 4-0 run that gave the 'Cats a lead they would not relinquish.
Blanding scored in the right top shelf of the goal to heighten the Wildcats' lead to 2-1 at 21:36.
Neyland scored unassisted right outside the crease to extend the lead to 3-1 at 20:09, followed by Leonard about one minute later with a goal off a free-position shot to build a 4-1 advantage (18:51).
Hartford answered back with a free-position goal from Harrison at 17:24 to trim the deficit to 4-2.
Blanding received a pass from Leonard to score at 14:10 and return the Wildcats to their three point lead, 5-2.
Halloran scored her second goal of the game, assisted by Miller, at 13:30.
Goals by Liv Dunn (Newbury, Mass.) at 12:36 and Blanding, who set up Dunn's goal, at 9:30 pushed UNH's lead to 7-3.
Leonard beat her defender and fired a shot into the goal to heighten the Wildcats' lead to 8-3 with 2:25 left in the first half.
Twenty-six seconds later, Halloran scored her third goal of the game to trim the deficit to 8-4.
New Hampshire ended the half with 13 shots on goal; Hartford had eight.

Second Half

Hartford's Shannon Tuozzo struck quickly with an unassisted goal at 28:59 to make the score 8-5.
UNH responded and furthered its lead to 10-5 with back-to-back unassisted goals from Neyland at 27:44 and 26:28.
Harrison scored off a rebound from Torres' stick at 24:42 to push the score to 10-6.
Masseur drove straight to the net and scored her second goal of the day at 23:38 to give the Wildcats a five-goal cushion, 11-6.
One minute later, Blanding picked up a loose ball from a Hartford turnover in front of the net and scored her fourth goal of the game at 23:30.
Tuozzo scored her second of the half on a free-position shot at 13:52 to cut the margin to 12-7.
Neyland stole possession from the Hawks at the left doorstep and Woods scored her first goal of the game at 9:54, followed by Blanding's fifth goal of the game at 9:22, to push the lead to 14-7.
Harrison responded by firing a shot just outside the crease into the goal at 7:56;
Birdie Montes was credited with an assist on the tally.
Woods, off a feed from Blanding, rushed past multiple defenders to score her second goal of the game at 6:46 and increase the lead to 15-8.
D'Andrea scored twice within the last five minutes of the game to lower the deficit.

Game Notebook

Hartford led in shots with a 33-32 margin. UNH had 27 shots on goal and Hartford had 24.
Hartford held the lead for ground balls with 23 while UNH had 22.
The 'Cats committed fewer turnovers (17-19) and caused more turnovers (10-6).
Hartford led in draw controls with a 17-10 margin.
New Hampshire recorded more assisted goals in comparison to Hartford (5-3).
The Hawks scored one player-up goal but also allowed one player-down goal.
UNH was successful on 22 of 23 clear attempts; Harford was 17-for-21.
The visitors scored on 3 of 5 free-position shots; the Wildcats were 1-for-3.

UNH Notebook

Blanding led the team in goals, assists, and points. She also had two ground balls and one caused turnover.
Blanding surpassed her previous benchmarks of four goals and five points. She also tied her career-high of two assists that occurred earlier this season against Vermont.
Masseur tied her career-high of two goals and two points, both of which were established earlier this week against sixth-ranked Stony Brook University.
Masseur also had a career- and team-high dour draw controls.
Woods tallied two goals in the second half to create career highs in both goals and points.
Senior Sabrina Grovom (San Marcos, Calif.) recorded her first assist of the season.
Leonard extended her point streak to 27 games; she tallied 47 goals and 33 assists for 80 points (2.96 points per game).
Leonard ends her career with 57 goals and 34 assists for 91 points in 45 games.
Neyland ends her Wildcat career with an eight-game point streak and totals of 62 goals, 27 assists and 89 points in 42 games.
Blanding caps her career with 49 goals and 18 assists for 67 points in 44 games.
The senior class of Benesh, Blanding Grovom, Leonard, Neyland – as well as team manager Haley Bridgeman – were honored in a postgame ceremony.

Series Notebook

New Hampshire has a 4-0 lifetime record against Hartford with an even split of two wins at home and two wins at Hartford.
New Hampshire won the previous matchup, 12-8, at Hartford earlier this season on April 18.