PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- After spending five seasons as the top assistant at Colgate, Katie Rhodes Abbott finally got the chance to demonstrate her head-coaching ability Saturday afternoon against LIU - Brooklyn. The result: one game at the helm, one win. Abbott oversaw a dismantling of the Blackbirds to the tune of a 17-4 scoreline, the largest margin of victory for La Salle since the 2015 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• It only took sophomore Bridget Ruskey, last season's joint-most prolific goalscorer, one-and-a-half minutes to open her account for the 2019 campaign. La Salle then went 2-0 up with a strike from sophomore Sarah Elias.
• LIU - Brooklyn responded with a goal before sophomore Maddie Dachowski found the back of the net three times in less than three minutes of play. Elias and Ruskey added on to make it 7-1 with 17 minutes left in the first half, after which the Blackbirds cut the lead to five.
• Both teams went eight minutes without scoring, but La Salle woke up first and barraged the opposition's net. The Explorers ended the half on a run of five unanswered goals and the scoreline after the first was firmly in La Salle's favor at 12-2.
• The Blackbird's Amanda Masullo, the team's leading scorer on the day with three goals, struck within two minutes of the second half commencing. La Salle again showed resolve in responding with another run of five straight goals, and a late LIU - Brooklyn score was inconsequential as the scoreboard read 17-4.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Dachowski ended last season with four goals. She eclipsed that mark in one game against the Blackbirds, finding the back of the net six times on seven shots, while leading the team in scoring with seven points.
• Both Dachowski and Ruskey, each finishing with six goals, caught fire in the first half. The two sophomores went on scoring sprees of three consecutive goals--Dachowski dominated from 21:19 to 18:51, Ruskey from 3:42 to 0:05.
• The pair were followed by a few other top performers: sophomore Brittany Stevens paced the team with four assists to go with a goal, Elias had two goals and two assists, while sophomore Hope Smith had a goal and two assists.
• Sophomores Priya Kavuru and Jordan Campbell had the most caused turnovers on the day with two each, while Ruskey finished with a team-high five draw controls, followed by sophomore Emily Johnston with four.
• In net, sophomore Molly Loughlin got the nod and convincingly grabbed a win in her second career start. The sophomore recorded eight saves on twelve shots--good for a 66.7 % save percentage--and also paced the team in ground balls with three.

COACH'S THOUGHTS

• After the game, Abbott reflected on her team's performance: "It was a great team win today. We really connected all over the field. It was nice to see them execute everything we have been working on. They all gave full effort today and that's all I can ask for. They are excited to enjoy this win and then get back to work Monday to start prepping for next week."

UP NEXT

• La Salle host Delaware on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. The Blue Hens narrowly nipped the Explorers last season, winning 16-13 in Newark, Del.