DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – The Delaware Valley University women's lacrosse got out to an early 3-0 lead, but could not hold on as visiting Gwynedd Mercy pulled away with a 17-8 victory.
Kiara Haywood-Rivera started things off for the Aggies (1-2) with a goal on a free position attempt, and sophomore Viola Anderson followed with one of her own to give the home team a 2-0 lead after five minutes. Moments later, DelVal forced a turnover and Leilani Eckert capitalized for her first collegiate tally to make it a 3-0 game after just 6:50 of play.
From there, the Griffins (3-2) went on a 6-0 run including the final five goals of the first quarter to take a lead they would never relinquish. Four different players scored in the run including Kristen Varilla and Caroline Cleary who had two apiece.
Susan Rawding helped the Aggies fight back with two goals in 28 seconds to make it 6-5. However, the rest of the half belonged to Gwynedd Mercy as they scored five-straight with Varilla getting three and Hailey Bloom scoring two. That extended the Griffins' lead to 11-5 at the break.
In the second half, Gwynedd Mercy got the better of the Aggies by outscoring them, 6-3, to come away with the nine-point win.
Alyssa Rudd used an explosive individual effort to score her first collegiate goal early in the second half for DelVal. Additionally, Haywood-Rivera finished with three goals, Rawding had two, and Samantha McCurry and Kyra McKeegan each had an assist. Ashley Birmingham chipped in with four draw controls, four ground balls, and two caused turnovers. In goal, Caroline Berg played all 60 minutes and made 10 saves.
On the other side, Alsia Collins led the way with four goals and two points for six points, and Varilla matched the six points with five goals and an assist. Cleary had a game-high nine draw controls to go with two goals, an assist, two ground balls, and two caused turnovers.
The Aggies will be back at home, Wednesday, March 8th against Muhlenberg for their fourth-of-five home games to begin the year.
