KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Five goals from
Sam Graf (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) and a hat trick by
Lailah ElBouazzaoui (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) led the way as six players recorded multi-goal games in an 18-7 PSAC East opening victory for the 17th-ranked Kutztown University women's lacrosse team over Shippensburg Wednesday afternoon at Keystone Field.
The Golden Bears are hungry to return to the PSAC playoffs after getting their first taste of the tournament last year and showed they're ready to compete in the rough-and-tumble Eastern Division.
Olivia Eilbacher (Cherry Hill, N.J./Camden Catholic) netted a pair of player-up goals, ElBouazzaoui popped in two of her three and
Shannon Lake (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) and
Katie Yocum (Hanover, Pa./South Western) each added a goal as Kutztown (4-1, 1-0 PSAC East) raced out to a 6-1 lead by the 11:51 mark of the second quarter.
Shippensburg (1-4, 0-1) briefly tied the game at one on a Sara Vosburg goal at 13:18 of the first but Lake answered 13 seconds later to start a five-goal run. The Maroon and Gold never trailed in their fourth win over the Raiders in five meetings since 2022.
Graf scored four times in the second quarter, including a perfect 3-for-3 on free-position attempts, and ElBouazzaoui completed her hat trick as KU extended its advantage to 12-4 at the half.
The Golden Bears blanked Shippensburg 4-0 in the third while invoking the running clock after gaining a 10-goal advantage.
Emma Meakim (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) collected a pair of goals in the quarter to cap a five-point day (2g, 3a) and move into second-place on Kutztown's all-time scoring list with 165 points.
Sammy Ruwet's (Swedesboro, N.J./Kingsway Regional) first goal of the season at 13:12 of the fourth pushed the Bears' lead to a game-high 13 goals, 17-4. It also ended a 7-0 run that started with 33 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Shippensburg went more than 21 minutes without a goal between the second and fourth quarters.
Brynn Axe (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield) added her first marker of the campaign with 4:45 remaining to conclude the scoring for KU.
Though draw controls were split evenly, 14-14, Kutztown held major advantages in shots (48-15) and ground balls (30-12) while committing nine fewer turnovers (22-13). The hosts forced 14 of Shippensburg's 22 turnovers, getting four CTOs from
Cyrose Conteh (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) and two each from Graf,
Robin Spector (Northfield, N.J./Mainland Regional) and
Rowan Hall (Sloatsburg, N.Y./Suffern).
Graf totaled six points (5g, 1a) and moved into a tie for fifth-place on the program's career scoring list with 151 points in the process. Eilbacher and Lake finished with two goals and an assist apiece, Yocum had two goals and
Lauren Lamorte (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) an assist. Graf supplied nine draw controls.
Jenna Blesson (Sparta, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) improved to 4-1 in the cage with three saves in just over 41 minutes of action. Already second in career saves at KU, the Sparta, N.J., native is now just one shy of 500 as a Golden Bear.
Marisa Bragg (Ringoes, N.J./Hunterdon Central) made one stop over the final 18:32.
Keegan Dings had four goals and a team-leading five points for Shippensburg, while goalie Kayla Vosburg was busy all afternoon with 14 saves.
Kutztown heads to Shepherd Saturday for another conference battle. Game time is 1 p.m.
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