NEWPORT NEWS, VA – The #11 York College women's lacrosse team used a huge third quarter to roll to a 18-7 non-conference win over former Capital Athletic Conference foe Christopher Newport on Saturday in Newport News, Virginia.
The Spartans turned a close game into a rout in the third quarter as the Green and White outscored the Captains 10-1.
York improves to 2-1 overall while the Captains fall to 2-3.
How It Happened
•The Spartans opened the scoring a mere 1:29 into the game as
Logan Ward notched the opening tally. The Captains responded with goals from Julia Iapicca and Kelsey Winters to give CNU the 2-1 lead. The Spartans closed out the first quarter with goals from
Zoe Kluegel and
Gianna Huet as they took a 3-2 lead. York outshot the Captains 7-5 in the first quarter.
• York notched three of the first four goals of the second quarter to take a 6-3 lead. The Spartans goals came from Ward,
Anya Litofsky, and
Teresa Matthias. The Captains got a Brookelyn Morrison free position goal at the 7:18 mark to cut the CNU deficit to two. York got that goal back as
Kiersten Blanchard found the back of the net with 4:50 left. That gave York a 7-4 lead heading to the break. Both teams had six shots in the quarter with York putting all six of their attempts on net.
• The Spartans came flying out of the break as they hit the Captains with four goals in the opening 3:21 of the third quarter to push the lead to 11-4. Kluegel scored a pair followed by a second goal from Litofsky followed by Ward's third of the day. Ward notched a second goal on the run before Iapicca halted the run with her second goal of the day. It took the Spartans a mere 41 seconds to get that goal back as
Sydney Mentzer got her first goal of the day on a free position goal to put York up 13-5 with 8:44 left in the quarter. The Spartans finished off the quarter with four goals over the final seven minutes to take a 17-5 lead to the fourth. Ward,
Jen Campbell, Kluegel and Blanchard scored during the run for York.
• The Spartans dominated the third quarter as they outshot the Captains 13-2 including 11-1 in shots on goal. The Spartans had a 9-3 edge in draws while they also had a 4-0 advantage in ground balls. York forced four CNU turnovers while the Green and White had one miscue in the quarter.
• Kluegel closed out the Spartan scoring midway through the fourth quarter to give York an 18-5 lead. The Captains scored the final two goals of the game as the Spartans cruised to victory.
Spartan Leaders
Logan Ward: 5 goals, 2 assists, 1 GB
Zoe Kluegel: 5 goals
Kiersten Blanchard: 2 goals, 1 assist, 8 DC
Anya Litofsky: 2 goals
Sydney Mentzer: 1 goal, 4 GB, 5 CT, 3 DC
Goaltending
Bella Garabo: 45 minutes played, 5 goals against, 3 saves
McKenna Seashole: 15 minutes played, 2 goals against, 2 saves
Spartan Notes
The Spartans improve to 8-0 all-time against the Captains … the game is the first match up between the two teams since March 30, 2019 …
Zoe Kluegel set a new career-high with five goals in the win while her five points tied her career high set in the opener against Washington (Md.) …
Logan Ward set a pair of career highs as her seven points eclipses her previous high of five while her five goals beat her previous best of four set at Haverford on March 19, 2022 … freshman
Sydney Mentzer set a trio of career highs with four ground balls, three draw controls and five caused turnovers in her best collegiate performance … the 18 goals are a season-high for the Spartans … York put a season high 74.3% of their shots on goal for the game … York collected a season-high 19 ground balls while they forced 15 caused turnovers and scooped up 17 draw controls.
Up Next
The Spartans stay on the road as they head to Gettysburg on Wednesday afternoon for a big regional clash. The Bullets are ranked ninth in the current IWLCA Coaches poll. Game time in Gettysburg is set for 4:00 pm.
