PHILADELPHIA, PA - With a 15-6 victory over the visiting Saint Joseph's Hawks Thursday afternoon at McCarthy Stadium, the La Salle women's lacrosse team will guarantee its first winning season in the program's history. The Explorers improve to 9-6 overall and 2-6 in conference play, while the Hawks drop to 4-7 and 1-4.
The Explorers were led by senior Kate Henwood (Glen Mills, PA/Garnett Valley) who tallied a game-high five goals and two assists.
In the biggest rivalry game of the season, the Explorers made a statement early and loud, as Henwood drove to the net after nabbing the opening draw control to set the tone for the game. Freshman Emily Bonczek (Henrietta, NY/Rush-Henrietta) landed the Explorers' second goal just 1:34 into the contest. At the 5:12 mark, Henwood notched her second goal to give La Salle a 3-0 advantage.
Saint Joseph's Kerry O'Connell (Baltimore, MD/Seton Keough) accepted a pass from Christina Colangelo (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) to snap La Salle's scoring trend at the 6:34 mark.
Henwood decided to pass off to Becky Boudwin (Springfield, PA/Cardinal O'Hara) to increase La Salle's lead to 4-1. The Hawks' Jenny Egan (Downingtown, PA/Villa Maria Academy) scored the first of her two goals to cut the lead in half at 4-2.
La Salle then went on a four goal run with goals from Boudiwn, Bonczek, Catie Borneman (Lansdale, PA/North Penn) and Kristen Davis (Folsom, PA/Ridley) between the 16:36 and 23:39 marks to give the Explorers a commanding lead at 10-2. Egan scored again for the Hawks at 25:35, but the Explorers closed out the half with aother goal from both Borneman and Henwood.
After the intermission, La Salle continued another four goal scoring drive with Davis and Henwood scoring to put La salle up 12-3. Saint Joseph's Kerry O'Connell (Baltimore, MD/Seton Keough) snapped the secod scoring drive with 19:19 to play, but La Salle wasn't done.
Tiffany Grossi (Ridley Park, PA/Ridley) netterd her lone goal of the game at the 26:30 mark, followed by another goal from Davis and Henwood.
The Hawks scored the last two goals of the game by Ashley Brennan (Bryn Mawr, PA/Radnor) and Lindsey-Kate McCool (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee).
La Salle goalkeeper Brittany Friedrich (Dayton, MD/River Hill) logged the first 30 minutes of the game and allowed three goals while facing 10 shots. Friedrich recorded two saves before handing the goalkeeping duties over to Chantelle McCormcik (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) for the second half. McCormcik allowed three goals, faced seven shots and recorded two saves.
The Explorers will hit the road this weekend to take on Richmond on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
