Elon, N.C. – Cierra Hopson scored a game high four goals to propel the Elon Phoenix to a 13-9 victory over the Furman women's lacrosse team on Wednesday evening at Rudd Field.
Furman drops to 1-2 on the season while Elon improves to 3-1 overall.
Sophie Shaw paced the Paladins offensively with six points on three goals and three assists, and
Paige Harman,
Anna Roser, and
Hannah Dintino all contributed two goals. Harman added an assist to conclude the contest with three points.
Katelyn Sousa picked up five ground balls to lead the team and Harman won three draws. Five different players caused one turnover apiece.
In goal,
Lily Rathbun and
Sailor Henderson combined for eight saves.
Hopson led the Phoenix with her four goals and Ana Lee Vandiver also posted four points on a goal and three assists. Goalie Caitlin Walsh grabbed five saves.
Elon outscored Furman 6-0 in the second quarter to hold an 8-3 advantage at halftime. The Paladins led 3-2 after the first quarter, highlighted by two goals from Roser, before being held scoreless for over 18 minutes as the Phoenix expanded their lead to as many as five when Hopson scored her fourth goal of the second quarter with 4:16 remaining before intermission.
Furman answered by registering five of the next eight goals during the third quarter and into the fourth to trail 11-8. Shaw and Dintino combined for four of the five goals with Harman cutting the Paladins' deficit to three at the 12:59 mark of the fourth quarter.
Elon closed out the contest scoring two of the final three goals from Anna Hackett and Bridget Kelly to secure the 13-9 win.
Furman recorded 16 ground balls to go with 10 draws and forced the Phoenix into 11 turnovers. The Paladins have now forced their opponents into double-digit turnovers for 11 straight games dating back to last season.
Furman returns to Paladin Stadium on Saturday morning to host East Carolina at 11 a.m. Fans can follow the action on www.furmanpaladins.com via live stats. Updates will be posted on the Furman women's lacrosse Twitter page (@FUWlax).
