Oct. 18, 2009

 

Box Score

 

PHILADELPHIA - La Salle scored five goals in the first half and never looked back in handing Saint Louis a 5-1 win on a cold, rainy Sunday afternoon at Hank DeVincent Field. Freshman Neelam Kumar and junior Gabrielle Nolt each had two goals to lead the Explorers.

"I am very pleased with the team effort we put forth today," head coach Michelle Marks said. "We stuck to our game plan and I thought we did a nice job possessing the ball. We executed nicely today and was great to have several different players score."

The hosts dominated play in the first half, out-shooting the Billikens, 14-1, and collecting five penalty corners to SLU's one. Kumar got the Explorers on the scoreboard in the 12th minute with her first collegiate goal and freshman Rebecca Chylack scored four minutes later on a penalty corner with the assist going to junior Beth Carey.

Chylack now has 21 points on the season, which ranks her sixth's on La Salle's all-time list. Carey has a league-best nine assists which moves her into third on the program's single season list. Her 15 career helpers are tied for sixth at La Salle.

Kumar gave the Explorers a three goal lead with her tally in the 24th minute, and Nolt added two more before intermission to make the score 5-0. Freshman Janel Paukovits assisted on Nolt's second tally.

The Explorers had eight corners in the second half but were unable to score. Saint Louis (1-12, 0-3 A-10) ruined the shutout in the 64th minute when Nicole Kent found the back of the cage.

Junior Emma Ruth made one save for the Blue and Gold, while Katherine Deem had 15 stops for the Billikens.

La Salle (6-10, 1-2 A-10) fired a season-high 24 shots and had 13 corners. SLU was held to four shots and three corners.

The Explorers will host Saint Joseph's on Friday at 3 PM. Senior day ceremonies for the team's five seniors will begin at approximately 2:45 PM.