By: Elmira College Athletic Communications
A pair of five-goal performances by Elmira College's Kendra Heath '23 and Emily Ferguson '24 paved the way for a 15-5 road win over Alfred University in women's lacrosse. It marked the first game of the 2021 season for both teams, as the Soaring Eagles record stands at 1-0 and the Saxons 0-1.
The Soaring Eagles more than doubled Alfred's shot output, 38-17. Two critical factors for the Elmira women was their ability to efficiently clear the ball and control the draw. Elmira went 15-of-16 on clear attempts, including a perfect 10-for-10 in the first half, and won 16-of-22 draw controls.
Heath paced the Elmira attack with a game-high eight points on five goals and three assists. She also caused three turnovers and collected two ground balls. Kari Jensen '23 was not far behind with six points (3g-3a). She also produced team highs in draw controls (11), caused turnovers (5) and ground balls (4). Bolstering EC's offensive prowess was Ferguson, who scored five goals on just seven shots.
Catrina Dinehart '23 chipped in three points with one goal and two assists, while Kayla Tobias '24 logged one goal and one assist for two points.
Alex Cox '23 and Krystyna Lilland '21 split time in net for the Purple and Gold. Cox started in the cage and logged four saves in 30 minutes en route to the win. Lilland took over in the second half and finished with three saves in 30 minutes of action.
Elmira set the tone early on in today's contest by scoring the first five goals of the game. Heath notched back-to-back unassisted goals in the first eight minutes of play and Ferguson poured on three goals, the second of which was assisted by Jensen, to give EC a 5-0 advantage.
Alfred outscored Elmira, 3-2, over the final 11:52 as EC held a 7-3 lead at the break. Jensen tallied twice for EC during that time, both of which were scored via free-position attempts.
Heath had a repeat performance in the second half with a trio of goals in an eight-minute span to push the Elmira lead to 9-3. Jensen assisted on the first two, while Dinehart collected an assist on Heath's third of the half.
Alfred's Karson Richenberg found the back of the cage at 19:54, but Elmira responded with four consecutive goals from 13:09 to 10:18 to take its largest lead of the game, 14-4. Tobias, Dinehart, Jensen and Ferguson all tallied during that stretch.
Breanna Turner cut the lead Elmira down to nine at 9:18, but Ferguson scored 54 seconds later to push the lead back to 10 goals, 15-5. The 10-goal cushion was more than enough for Elmira, as the Purple and Gold marched away with the victory.
In Her Own Words…
Head Coach
Katelyn Sherman shared her thoughts on today's win…
"The team played hard the entire 60 minutes, despite no subs and didn't give up. Between it being a whole new team and it being our first game in over a year, it was a great team win today. I'm very proud of them".
News and Notes
- Elmira improved to 1-0 in the team's first game in 371 days.
- The Soaring Eagles are now 16-2 all-time against Alfred and have won 16 consecutive outings versus the Saxons since 2003.
- EC had advantages in shots (38-to-17), ground balls (22-to-17), draw controls (16-to-6), and caused turnovers (18-to-9).
- Five players finished with at least two points, and all five scored at least one goal.
- Heath paced all scorers with a game- and career-high eight points (5g-3a).
- Heath is the first Soaring Eagle to post eight-or-more points since Rachael Goetz '20 did so with eight goals in a 19-7 win over the University of Dallas in the 2020 season opener.
- In the first game of her career, Ferguson impressed with a game-high-tying five goals.
- Jensen did a little bit of everything with six points (3g-3a) to go along with a game-high 11 draws and five caused turnovers.
- Dinehart finished with a single-game career-high three points and her first career goal.
- Tobias (1g-1a) recorded the first two points of her collegiate career in her debut game.
Up Next
The Elmira women return to action next Saturday, March 20, when they travel to Troy, New York, to face the Gators of Russell Sage College. The opening draw is set for 1:00 p.m.