FARMVILLE, Va. – Elon's stifling defense and consistent offense powered the Phoenix to a 14-3 win over Longwood women's lacrosse on Monday afternoon at Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field.
Entering the game ranked No. 23 in the IWLCA Division I Coaches Poll, Elon improved to 6-0 with Monday's win. The Phoenix used a balanced offense featuring 10 unique goal scorers and a shutdown defense to extend the program's best-ever start to a season. Sara Bouwman, Mae McGlynn, and Margaret Stephan all tallied multiple goals, as 14 players scooped ground balls.
The Elon defense, who through five games ranked fourth in the country in allowing just 6.60 goals per game, established themselves early, holding the Lancers (1-8) without a goal in the first half. The Phoenix outshot the Lancers 16-4 in the opening 30 minutes, as Margaret Stephan's opening-half hat trick powered Elon to an 11-0 lead at the break.
The Longwood defense responded with a strong second half, allowing just three goals and eight shots while forcing six turnovers. Leading the defensive charge was senior Hannah Tirrell, who led the Lancers in caused turnovers (3) and ground balls (5) while defensive partners Rachel Abraham and Lauren Cerretani combined for five ground balls and two caused turnovers as they held the Phoenix without a goal for the first 15 minutes of the final period.
"After the American loss, I really challenged our team to improve their mental fortitude and today I loved their response," said Longwood head coach Elaine Jones. "We used our practices to tinker with some ideas and make adjustments in preparation for Elon. It was great to see the team buy in and take ownership of that process.
"Although the score doesn't reflect it and a loss is still a loss, our players battled for 60 minutes against a top offensive and skilled team. That was our one major goal so I am really proud of the effort we put in to achieve that, especially on defense as we kept Elon to only three goals in the 2nd half."
Making her first career start in net, Lancer goalkeeper Riley Hayden made seven saves across 60. Her performance included four saves in the second half, while conceding just three goals after the halftime break.
"Riley did an admirable job stepping in making her first start," added Jones. "Her saves gave our defenders a great confidence boost."
Dana Joss broke the ice for Longwood in the second half, scoring her 11th goal of the season at the 26:09 mark—the graduate senior ended with a goal, three shots, three draw controls and a ground ball. Taylor Blenckstone shortly followed with her 11th goal of the year off of a pretty feed from Nicole Fordyce, cutting the Elon lead to nine with 22:04 to play.
Fordyce would add a goal with 4:36 mark to end with a team-best two points, but Elon held on to win 14-3 after tallying two late goals to end the game. Entering the match ranked 25th in the country in draw control percentage (.558), the Phoenix held a 12-6 edge in draws on Friday, led by four from Quinn Daly and three from Gillian Curran. In total, the Phoenix forced 20 turnovers while finishing a perfect 7-7 on clear attempts to slow down a Lancer offense that entered the game on a four-game streak of double-digit goals.
"I wasn't as pleased with our turnovers and offensive output, but Elon has an aggressive defense and you have to be really sharp to score on them," added Jones. "We had some good looks, but we just weren't able to find the back of the net. We will continue to hone and polish that area and others as we turn our attention towards conference play."
The game wraps up non-conference play for Longwood, as Elon marked the third ranked opponent they have faced in 2021 in their difficult non-conference slate. Their six-game Big South Conference slate will begin at home on Saturday, April 3 when they host Presbyterian at 1 p.m.
#GoWood
