BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Sophomore
Morgan Hurd (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) netted her fifth and sixth goals of the season, Saturday, but Bloomsburg raced out to a sizable first-half lead and used a strong defensive performance to deny the Kutztown University women's lacrosse team its first win of the season, 16-3, at Steph Pettit Stadium.
The Golden Bears fell to 0-3 (0-2 PSAC East) on the season, while the Huskies pushed their record above .500 at 2-1 (2-1 PSAC East) with the win.
It didn't take long for the hosts to break though. Abby Bergman collected the opening draw control and sprinted towards the KU cage, beating keeper
Jenna Blesson (Sparta, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) with a shot just 15 seconds in. Cassidy Griffin and Kelsey Clauss added on to Bloomsburg's lead in the opening 90 seconds and the host Huskies increased their advantage to 5-0 by the 7:44 mark.
Allie McCormick (West Deptford, N.J./West Deptford) got KU on the board with 11:58 remaining before halftime, taking a pass from
Alexis Sigillo (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Nyack) and ripping a shot past Angela DiPasquale.
Hurd capitalized on a free-position attempt with 1:04 left in the half, but Bloomsburg carried play throughout the half with a 23-9 shot advantage, 9-5 edge in draw controls and were perfect on 12 clearning attempts to take an 11-2 lead at intermission.
The Huskies continued to roll in the second, allowing only another Hurd goal with 17:10 to go. This time the KU attacker was set up by
Erin Vaughan Ware (Seaford, N.Y./MacArthur).
Senior
Devon Fitzpatrick (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) picked up her 100th career ground ball, caused a turnover and matched
Cyrose Conteh (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) with a team-high three draw controls. Eight different Bears accounted for the team's eight caused turnovers.
Offensively, Bloomsburg didn't allow the Maroon and Gold much in the way of opportunities. KU was limited to 14 shots, with Hurd (four), Conteh (three) and
Cyla Cafferata (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North) (three) combining for 10 of them. Blesson was under fire in the cage throughout the game and finished with 11 saves.
The Huskies spread around their offense as 10 players scored at least one point and eight registered multi-point games. Bergman and Amanda Stoll had hat tricks, while Kelsey Kilgallon and Kate Roberts each had two goals and assists to lead a quartet of Bloomsburg players with three-point afternoons.
Kutztown returns home to Keystone Field on Tuesday, March 23 at 4 p.m., where they'll take on Millersville in another PSAC East contest.
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