KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Kutztown women's lacrosse racked up plenty of goals during its first two wins of the season. On Wednesday afternoon at Keystone Field, the Golden Bears showed they could do it on the defensive end as well. KU withstood a fourth-quarter comeback attempt by Shepherd to win its PSAC East opener, 10-6, and improve to 3-0 in the process.
The Maroon and Gold never trailed behind a stingy defense and solid goalkeeping. Kutztown allowed just one goal in each of the first three quarters, building a 9-3 lead after 45 minutes and hanging on late as Shepherd started to generate offense.
Sam Graf (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) got the icebreaker at 12:42 of the first, scoring her seventh goal of the season.
Lailah ElBouazzaoui (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) made it 2-0 less than a minute later when she deposited a pass from
Emma Meakim (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) into the back of the net.
The Rams (3-3, 0-2 PSAC East) got on the board via Paige Stoner's free position goal with a tick under 10 minutes left, but
Olivia Eilbacher (Cherry Hill, N.J./Camden Catholic) answered with her second of the season at 1:55 to restore Kutztown's (3-0, 1-0 PSAC East) two-goal lead before the quarter came to a close.
ElBouazzaoui (14:02) and Graf (10:09) picked up unassisted goals that extended KU's lead to 5-1.
Shannon Lake (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) added her first of two with 1:42 remaining in the half to make it 6-2.
Kutztown caused six of Shepherd's nine turnovers in the first half, including two forced by freshman
Summer Davis (Beach Haven, N.J./Southern Regional). In total the Bears would force 10 Ram mishaps on the day, Sydney Bisesi joining Davis with a pair.
Kayla Brooks (Mountville, Pa./Hempfield) (free position) and Lake scored 44 seconds apart during the middle stages of the third, growing Kutztown's advantage to 8-2. Graf also converted a free position attempt with 1:12 left in the quarter.
Shepherd scored three unanswered goals to open the fourth, but got no closer than 9-6. Meakim capped the win on her team-leading ninth goal with 61 seconds to play, which was set up by Graf.
KU held a 34-23 edge in shots and dominated at the dot with a lopsided 16-3 surplus in draw controls. Graf led all players with a career-high nine of them, tied for fourth most in a game in team history.
The sophomore midfielder compiled three goals and an assist for a game-high four points. She also registered 12 shots (tied for fifth in a game at KU) and nine shots on goal (tied for seventh). ElBouazzaoui and Lake had two goals apiece, while Meakim had a goal and an assist. Brooks and Eilbacher accounted for KU's remaining goals.
Cyrose Conteh (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) was active in multiple phases of the game once again with four draw controls, three ground balls and a caused turnover. Goalie
Jenna Blesson (Sparta, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) made seven saves.
Shepherd got a standout effort from its goalie Hailey Bennett, who made 17 saves in defeat. Stoner scored twice and Rebekah Forney chipped in with a goal and assist for the visitors.
Kutztown remains home to take on Lock Haven Saturday at 1 p.m.
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