BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's lacrosse team rallied from an early three-goal deficit to post an 18-11 Landmark Conference victory over visiting Elizabethtown College as the Greyhounds clinched the program's first-ever Landmark Conference Tournament berth and reached the 10-win plateau for the first time in program history.
The Hounds are now 10-3 on the year and 4-1 in Landmark Conference play and were one of three Landmark Conference squads to clinch postseason berths Wednesday, joining The University of Scranton and No. 17 The Catholic University of America. Moravian is heading to the postseason for a second straight year after playing in the ECAC Division III First Round in 2017, and the 10 wins surpasses the previous high of nine victories for the program recorded in 2008.
"I'm so proud of our teams performance this afternoon," stated Head Coach Kristen Nicholson. "Coming from behind to win such an important game shows how much these young players have grown. It was truly a team effort from top to bottom."
Sophomore midfielder Liz Bill led the Blue and Grey with eight goals and two assists for 10 points to go with two draw controls, two caused turnovers and a pair of ground balls. Freshman midfielder Meaghan McMullan added four goals, seven draw controls and two ground balls while junior attack Jillian Picciuto and freshman attack Danielle Sullivan each had two goals and an assist with Picciuto contributing eight draw controls.
Senior attack Kyleigh McGovern and sophomore midfielder Allie Fisher each netted one goal with Fisher scooping up a draw control while freshman midfielder Olivia Clearie had an assist, three ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Junior goalie Kelley Gavin made seven saves to go with three ground balls for her 10th win of the season in goal.
Elizabethtown scored the first two goals before Bill would get the Hounds on the scoreboard with 25:51 left in the first half. The Blue Jays added two more tallies to push the edge to 4-1 before Bill scored again with 21:14 before the intermission. Moravian scored four of the next six goals with Sullivan knotting the score at 6-6 with 11:31 left in the first half on a behind the back shot off of a pass from Picciuto. Elizabethtown scored to retake the lead before Bill scored with just over a minute left in the opening 30 minutes as the squads went to halftime tied at 7-7.
The Blue Jays opened the scoring after the break before McMullan scored her first of the game. After Elizabethtown pulled ahead, 9-8, back-to-back goals by McMullan just nine seconds apart gave Moravian the lead for good at 10-9 with 18:11 remaining. The Greyhounds pushed that edge to 14-9 on goals by Picciuto, Sullivan and two by Bill with 8:49 left in the contest. The Blue Jays scored twice around goals by Fisher and McGovern before Bill and McMullan finished the scoring.
The Hounds are scheduled to return to action on Saturday, April 21 in a Landmark Conference match at No. 17 Catholic starting at 1:00 p.m. in Washington, D.C.
