BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's lacrosse team played under the lights at John Makuvek Field for the first time in school history Thursday evening as the Greyhounds defeated King's College, 14-8, in non-conference action.
The Hounds, now 1-1 on the season, traded goals early with the Monarchs before netting nine straight goals over the final ten minutes of the first half and the first 16 minutes of the second half to take control of the contest.
"I'm extremely proud of our team after tonight's game," commented second year Head Coach Kristen Nicholson. "We were well-balanced on attack and our defense truly played as a unit. We moved the ball well through the midfield on transition and capitalized on scoring opportunities. We'll continue to work on finishing games strong and composed, but overall this was a great quality win for our young program."
Sophomore midfielder/attack Jillian Picciuto netted a team-high six goals for the Greyhounds to go with a pair of assists as Picciuto netted at least six goals in a match for the fourth time in her career. Freshman midfielder Liz Bill added five goals while sophomore attack Jessica Pisano had a goal and an assist. Junior attack Kyleigh McGovern and freshman defender Allie Fisher both found the back of the cage once for the Hounds while sophomore attack Dalia Aguilar added an assist.
Moravian sophomore goalie Kelley Gavin made four saves for her first win of the season while sophomore defender Jacqueline LaCava scooped up a team-high five ground balls to go with three caused turnovers. Picciuto and Fisher each had five draw controls with Fisher adding three caused turnovers and three ground balls. McGovern and junior midfielder Alexis Kersten both had three ground balls while freshman defender Dayna Trotter contributed two ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Bill opened the scoring just 1:35 into the match but the Monarchs tied the score just 15 seconds later. Picciuto and Bill found the cage for a 3-1 lead only to see King's tie it at 3-3. After the teams traded goals again to make it 4-4, McGovern snapped the tie with 9:09 left in the first half as the Greyhounds took the lead for good, and Moravian held an 8-4 edge at the intermission.
The Blue and Grey scored the first five goals of the second half to push the advantage to 13-4 before King's connected on four straight tallies. Bill finished off the scoring with 6:33 to play.
Moravian is scheduled to return to action on Saturday, March 4 in the team's first road match of the year as the Greyhounds head to Hood College for a 12:00 p.m. non-conference contest.
