GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa. – Powered by a dominant second-half surge, the Delaware Valley women's lacrosse team pulled away from the Gwynedd Mercy Griffins to secure a 10-6 victory on the road on Monday afternoon.
The Aggies came out on the attack with the game's first two shots, but a costly turnover allowed Gwynedd Mercy to take an early 1-0 lead.
Charley Lengel-Kramer quickly answered less than a minute later to even the score, sparking a back-and-forth opening quarter. After the Griffins converted a free-position attempt to regain the lead,
Daisy Kovacs set up
Abbie Hostetler to tie it at 2-2. Lengel-Kramer then found
Piper Jones on a man-up opportunity to give the Aggies their first lead at 3-2, but Gwynedd Mercy responded with a late goal to send the game into the second quarter tied at 3-3.
Both teams opened the second quarter in a scoring drought, with Gwynedd Mercy holding the edge in shots, 6-3, before breaking through in the 10th minute to take a 4-3 lead. Delaware Valley struggled to find its rhythm offensively, but a late green card on the Griffins in the final 30 seconds created an opportunity, and Lengel-Kramer capitalized to even the score at 4-4 heading into halftime.
DelVal came out of the break with a spark, locking in defensively and holding the Griffins off the board for the entire third quarter.
Emily Drake anchored the effort with four clutch saves, while the Aggies flipped momentum on the offensive end. Hostetler connected with
Gabriella Guerra to reclaim the lead, and
Piper Jones cashed in on a man-up opportunity to stretch the advantage to 6-4.
The Griffins answered early in the fourth with a free-position goal, but DelVal quickly took control. The Aggies erupted for a five-goal run, turning a tight contest into a comfortable cushion. Hostetler jumpstarted the surge with a goal of her own before setting up Guerra just 30 seconds later. Guerra stayed hot, converting on a player-up chance to complete the hat trick, and Lengel-Kramer capped the run off a feed from Jones to push the lead to 10-5.
The Griffins added a late goal, but the outcome was never in doubt as DelVal secured the 10-6 victory.
Lengel-Kramer and Guerra paced the offense with three goals each, while Hostetler led the way with seven shots and four on cage.
DelVal returns to action Wednesday, March 25, hosting Immaculata at 7 p.m.
