KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The No. 14 Kutztown University women's lacrosse team extended its winning streak to four games with a commanding 16-7 victory over Southern New Hampshire on Friday afternoon at Keystone Field. The Golden Bears dominated both halves, leading 10-6 at halftime and outscoring the Penmen 6-1 in the second half.
Although Kutztown (4-0, 2-0 PSAC East) never trailed, the opening quarter featured back-and-forth action. Head coach
Kristen Nicholson called a timeout with 2:32 remaining in the first quarter, as the Golden Bears held a narrow 4-3 lead. Following the break, Kutztown surged offensively, scoring three goals in less than two minutes.
Lailah ElBouazzaoui (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) capitalized on a pass from
Lauren Lamorte (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip), followed by
Sam Graf (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) finding the net just 16 seconds later.
Sophie Engelhardt (Hellertown, Pa./Saucon Valley) closed out the quarter with a goal off an assist from Graf, giving Kutztown a 7-3 advantage.
Seven different goal scorers contributed to Kutztown's 16-goal effort. Graf led the Golden Bears with a game-high four goals and six total points. Lamorte and ElBouazzaoui each tallied five points, recording hat tricks and two assists apiece. With her two assists on the day, ElBouazzaoui reached 32 for her career, tying for 12th all-time in program history.
Engelhardt and
Maddie Wagner (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) each scored twice, while
Olivia Eilbacher (Cherry Hill, N.J./Camden Catholic) and
Madison Wenner (Marmora, N.J./Ocean City) added one goal apiece.
Defensively, the Golden Bears controlled the game, holding Southern New Hampshire (2-2) scoreless in the third quarter and limiting them to just two shots in the fourth.
Kutztown forced 16Â turnovers, doubling Southern New Hampshire's total of eight. Graf led the effort with a game-high five caused turnovers, bringing her career total to 96 and moving into second place on Kutztown's all-time leaderboard, surpassing the previous second-place record of 92.
Junior
Summer Davis (Beach Haven, N.J./Southern Regional) contributed four caused turnovers, reaching 79 for her career and moving up to sixth all-time at Kutztown. Davis and
Rowan Hall (Sloatsburg, N.Y./Suffern) also led the team with four ground balls each, helping the Golden Bears secure a total of 25 ground balls in the game. Ten other Golden Bears scooped up ground balls in the matchup.
Goalkeeper
Marisa Bragg (Ringoes, N.J./Hunterdon Central) earned her fourth win of the season, recording nine saves. This marks her fourth consecutive game with a save percentage above 50%.
No. 14 Kutztown returns to Keystone Field on Monday, March 7, for a 2:00 p.m. matchup against No. 19 New Haven in its second ranked matchup of the season.
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