DOYLESTOWN, Pa. –  The Delaware Valley women's field hockey team made a splash in their first home game of 2024 with first-year Alex Graffius recording a hat trick to lead the Aggies to a 5-1 victory over Gwynedd Mercy on Wednesday night.
 
DelVal's offense wasted no time earning a corner just under two minutes into play. Sydney Keagle stepped up to the goal line for the insert up top to Kenzie Boyd who popped it out to Ashley Birmingham on the right side. Birmingham fired the shot toward the center where Graffius waited for the deflection into the cage.
 
The Aggies extended their lead to 3-0 by half with two more goals in the second frame. At the 22-minute mark, Birmingham attempted to rip it back into the circle to Graffius again but was intercepted by the Griffins defense. First-year Danielle Geyer regained possession for the Aggies at the top of the arc with a quick bounce shot past the defense and into the cage for the two-goal edge.
 
Just four minutes later a foul from Gwynedd Mercy put Paige Sammons in possession about 20 yards out. Sammons dumped it into the top of the circle to Graffius who popped it over the stick of the defender and into the cage for her second goal of the game and the 3-0 lead.
 
The third quarter saw one goal from the Aggies in the 35^th minute. Sammons made an attempt at the cage from the right of the corner to the bottom left of the cage for the tap in from Graffius to extend the Aggies' lead 4-0.
 
After a scoreless 13 minutes, veterans Birmingham and Keagle teamed up for the Aggies' fifth and final goal of the contest. Birmingham crossed the ball through the circle over to Keagle on the lefthand side for the graceful lift into the cage to make it a 5-0 game.
 
DelVal let up a single goal to the Griffins in the 51^st minute to cut their final margin of victory to four, 5-1.
 
Alyssa Rudd and Shaelynn Castanaga-Acerra shared duties in the cage with Rudd recording the first 45 minutes of action and Castanaga-Acerra subbing in for the final 15. Graffius led the Aggies in shots on goal with four while Sammons led in shots overall with six. Both Sammons and Birmingham netted two assists apiece.
 
Head coach Stefania Swider and the Aggies face a quick turnaround hitting the road tomorrow for their next contest at Widener. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. start.