STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (12-0, 8-0 GNAC) cruised past Elms College (5-5, 4-5 GNAC), 20-8, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's lacrosse contest at the SJC Athletics Complex on Tuesday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The conference counterparts swapped scores in the opening three minutes, as SJC freshman Brianna Paul (Brattleboro, Vt.) netted her 19th goal of the season at the 13:37 mark and Elms senior Elese Ciarcia (Glastonbury, Conn.) hit pay dirt 1:11 later. The tie score lasted all of 11 seconds, as sophomore Carson Battaglia (Gorham, Maine) lifted the Monks to a 2-1 lead and ignited a 10-0 offensive surge which was capped by another Paul strike as the first-quarter clock expired.

The Blazers opened the second stanza scoring 2:44 into the period when junior Taylor Borla (Southington, Conn.) converted a shot off a Ciarcia feed, but Saint Joseph's potted six unanswered goals – including three from grad Lydia Dexter (Oakland, Maine) – to secure an insurmountable 17-2 cushion with nine minutes left in the third quarter.

MILESTONE MET:

Dexter, who broke the Monks' single-season points record in a win over Dean College on Saturday, became the first player in team history to tally 100 points in a season when she scored at the 14:48 mark of the third period. Dexter entered today's contest with 92 points on the season and, with seven goals and three assists in the win, has scored 47 goals with 55 assists for 102 points in 12 games this spring.

TEAM STATS:

Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (39-13), shots on goal (32-10), ground balls (30-17) and draw controls (17-12) in the victory.

THE KEEPERS:

SJC freshman starter Morgan Wright (Chelmsford, Mass.) yielded four goals and made two saves in 45 minutes of play while first-year Mackenzie Baston (Gray, Maine) allowed four goals in the closing 15 minutes.

Elms senior netminder Emma Walsh (Dracut, Mass.) turned away 12 shots in the losing effort.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Dexter tallied seven goals, three assists, 10 ground balls, three draw controls and three caused turnovers
• Paul, Battaglia and Bridget Collins (Milford, Conn.) netted three goals apiece
• Sophomore Megan Mourmouras (Biddeford, Maine) added two goals, two assists, seven ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers
• Sophomore Cailyn Wesley (Peabody, Mass.) chipped in with a goal, two assists, six draw controls and three ground balls

LEADERS – ELMS:

• Anna-Elise Pikul recorded four goals, four draw controls, three ground balls and three caused turnovers
• Borla tacked on two goals and an assist with six draw controls and three ground balls

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's will play at Regis College on Thursday in a GNAC contest slated to start at 7:30 PM.

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