BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's lacrosse jumped out to a large first half lead and would hold on for a 20-16 non-conference victory over SUNY Old Westbury Friday afternoon on the HUB Quad as freshman midfielder/attack Jillian Picciuto set the Greyhounds' career record for assists in the win.
"As a young team, we're still learning how to maintain our level of play and today was a test of that skill," commented Head Coach Kristen Schuster. "I'm glad we were able to pull away in the end and remain composed. Our next week of practice will be focused on these fine skills to help us for the games ahead."
Picciuto tied her own school record with a team-high 11 points on four goals and seven assists, which broke her own single-match school record. The seven helpers give Picciuto 30 assists for her career in just 11 matches as she broke Paige Warbrick's '10 record of 27.
Freshman midfielder/attack Alexia Johnston scored a career-high eight goals for Moravian while freshman midfielder Eileen Rolwood had five goals and an assist. Freshman attack Jessica Pisano netted a pair of goals while sophomore midfielder Alexis Kersten tallied Moravian's final goal.
Freshman goalie Kelley Gavin had seven saves and a pair of ground balls in the match while Rolwood led the Greyhounds with six ground balls and six draw controls. Picciuto added four ground balls and four draw controls while freshman defender Melissa Webber contributed five draw controls and two caused turnovers. Kersten scooped up four ground balls and four draw controls while causing a pair of turnovers while Johnston added three caused turnovers, two ground balls and two draw controls. Junior defender Maria Maka and freshman attack Kyleigh Miller each had three ground balls for the Hounds.
Johnston opened the scoring just 32 seconds into the match off of a pass from Picciuto, and the Greyhounds scored four times in the opening three minutes of action. Kersten would finish off a 10-0 run to open the game she scored at the 13:30 mark, and Johnston's third goal of the afternoon pushed the lead to 11-1 with 9:19 before the intermission. The Panthers netted the final three goals of the half to cut the Blue and Grey's lead to 11-4 at halftime.
Old Westbury continued its surge to start the second half with the first seven goals after the break to tie the match at 11-11 with 19:07 still to play. Johnston snapped the tie with three goals in a span of 56 seconds as the Hounds took a lead they wouldn't relinquish. After the Panthers cut the lead to a goal at 14-13, Moravian scored six of the final nine goals the two teams put in the cages over the last 10:02 of action.
The Greyhounds, now 6-5 overall, are scheduled to return to action on Saturday, April 16 in a non-conference match at Goucher College beginning at 1:00 p.m.
