MANCHESTER, N.H. – Fueled by another strong second quarter, the No. 18 Assumption University women's lacrosse team defeated No. 19 Saint Anselm by a 16-9 decision on Tuesday evening at Grappone Stadium. The Greyhounds broke loose for eight unanswered and outscored the Hawks by a 7-2 margin in the second frame en route to recording their third road win over a nationally-ranked opponent this spring.

At first, the teams were neck-and-neck by trading goals at the beginning of the contest. Assumption, however, never trailed in the quarter and got stronger towards the end to build up a three-goal cushion. After Jess Sullivan tied the game at 2-2 on a free position goal with 2:57 remaining, the Greyhounds quickly scored three times in a span of 54 seconds to pull ahead.

Junior Jenna Joseph (Longmeadow, Mass.), who had six assists in the previous game against AIC, set up two goals netted by senior Jill Good (North Andover, Mass.) and freshman Katelynn Johnston (Port Jefferson, N.Y.), and sophomore Ella Tenney (Braintree, Mass.) netted an unassisted marker with the visitors competing a player down to make it 5-2 through 15 minutes of play.

Assumption (6-4, NE10 4-2) continued right where it left off to begin the second quarter, as Olivia Catanzarite (East Longmeadow, Mass.) continued the team's balanced attack by finding the back of the net at 13:48. Good then became the first repeat goal scorer for the Greyhounds by netting the team's fifth straight and seventh overall, and graduate student Alison Foley (Walpole, Mass.) made it six in a row by finishing a free position attempt. The Greyhounds ended up rattling off eight unanswered and led 12-4 at halftime.

The second half started off much like the first with the teams trading goals in the early going. Saint Anselm then crept back by ending the third on a 3-0 run. Jenna Balboni netted her fifth goal of the game at 6:38, and Alison Ferullo notched a free position marker to make it 14-9 with 1:26 left. Assumption won the ensuing draw and had a chance to add to its lead with one final shot, but an acrobatic attempt by Foley sailed wide, and Good's follow up in the waning seconds was stuffed by goalie Grace Young.

The Greyhounds got on the scoreboard first in the fourth to remain in control when Joseph found senior Lauren Jakobs (Naples, Maine) on the doorstep for her first marker of the contest at 11:59. It was the first and one of just two goals scored between the two sides in the fourth, as the Greyhounds used stifling defense and ate up the clock on offense to eventually come away with the seven-goal victory.

Good led the offense with four goals and a helper for Assumption, which tallied nine assists to the Hawks' one and had nine different players find the back of the net. Foley finished with two goals and two assists, while Joseph set up three goals. Senior Haley Rose (Wading River, N.Y.) and junior Taylor Degeorge (Feeding Hills, Mass.) each caused two turnovers defensively, and senior netminder Allie Collins (Natick, Mass.) made eight saves.

Saint Anselm (6-3, NE10 4-2), which was also issued five yellow cards in the physical contest, was led by Balboni's five-goal effort. Lexi Palmisano netted two goals, and Young stopped 10 shots from between the pipes.

Assumption, which ended the evening in a third-place log jam with several other schools in the standings, will next face its seventh nationally-ranked opponent when it travels to No. 10 Le Moyne on Saturday, April 9th for a 4 p.m. matinee.