Box Score LOWELL, MASS. – Led by eight points from junior midfielder Caitlin Delaney, the Sacred Heart women's lacrosse team earned a 17-5 win over the UMass Lowell River Hawks at Cushing Field.
Delaney led the offense with five goals and three assists, while adding four caused turnovers, five draw controls, and six ground balls. Jenna Liljeberg had a hat trick as Liana Doyle and Kylie Calandra each had a goal and two assists. Danielle Pini had two goals as 10 different Pioneers scored on Sunday.
Sacred Heart (2-3) dominated the first half, jumping out to a 5-0 lead with 11:17 to play. Delaney had two of the first five tallies as Liljeberg, Alyssa Pearce, and Jesslyn Joseph also found the back of the net. UMass Lowell (1-4) got on the board at the 10:15 mark on a Kelly Moran goal. Liljeberg scored her second goal of the game with 8:51 to go, and an Averi Farhat tally with 0:29 left in the half gave the Pioneers a 7-2 halftime advantage. The Pioneers forced 14 turnovers in the first half, collecting 18 ground balls.
Sacred Heart extended their lead to six just 1:34 into the second half, as Liljeberg's third goal of the game pushed the SHU lead to 8-2. Delaney then scored three straight to make the score 11-2 with 24:15 to play. Pini's goal at the 16:16 mark capped an 8-0 run for the Pioneers to start the second half, extending the SHU lead to 15-2. The River Hawks scored three goals in the last 13 minutes, but the Pioneers' offense proved to be too potent as SHU went on to win 17-5.
Sacred Heart outshot UMass Lowell 25-16 and won the groundball battle 27-21. SHU's Carly Cavagnaro made nine saves for the win.
The Pioneers return to Campus Field to host La Salle on Friday, March 18th at 3 p.m.
First Half
-Sacred Heart opened game on 5-0 run.
-The Pioneers held the River Hawks without a goal for the first 19:45 of the first period.
-UMass Lowell scored their only two goals of the first half within the last 10:15, as SHU's defense was suffocating.
-Delaney finished the first half with four points on two goals and two assists.
Second Half
-SHU began the second half on a 8-0 run to go up 15-2.
-Delaney scored three goals in 1:41 to move her season total to 19.
-Pini's two goals were her first two of the season.
-Blair Yesko scored her first goal of the season with 0:43 remaining.
