The Elon women’s lacrosse team capped off their Senior Day with an impressive 9-4 win over William & Mary. In a game that was delayed by four hours from its initial start time at noon due to a chemical spill, the Phoenix furiously rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to outscore the Tribe 9-1 the rest of the way. The victory moves Elon back up to .500 at 6-6.
Although Elon only converted nine of their 29 shots, timely goals flipped the game in their favor.
Elon was looking to attack throughout the game and had multiple opportunities to strike first. However, sophomore Tribe goalkeeper Anna Lopez kept both shots from going in, and the game remained scoreless in the opening minutes. The Tribe then managed to hit most of their early shots. Two goals by sophomore midfielder Taylor McCall paved the way for a 3-0 lead with just under seven minutes to go in the first period.
Despite the initial struggles, head coach Josh Hexter said the team’s “next play mentality” helped keep them in the game. He said they had to make a couple of quick fixes to start capitalizing on offense.
“We had to adjust a little bit in our shooting,” Hexter said. “We got shots early, and their goalie was lights out, so we just had to adjust how we were moving on attack to get better shots.”
Elon began to turn things around later in the first quarter, when freshman attacker Lizzie Scalzo was awarded with a free-position shot, and proceeded to score.
Scalzo said she wanted to take advantage of the space Elon had to work with. She said the team did a good job continuing to try and get good shots even with some of the early misses.
“I think we just kept working the ball, and once we get that shooting space, I just knew I had to make it to start that scoring run,” Scalzo said. “Then from there, my team just had my back and kept tacking on goals.”
From then on, the Phoenix played a very physical game on offense. Sophomore attacker Lillian Austin and junior midfielder Gwen Eilender each managed to earn free position shots and tie the game at three.
With the momentum on Elon’s side, sophomore midfielder Addie Gilner forced a turnover that was converted into a lead-taking goal by redshirt junior Anna Hackett, who would later score her 100th career point. The Phoenix rode this turnaround, heading into halftime up 4-3.
Scalzo said the team works on drawing fouls by dissecting zone defenses such as the one William & Mary played.
“We’ve been moving the ball a lot, and getting it to the backside so when a defender slides over, you get that shooting space,” Scalzo said. “It’s great that it happened in today’s game.”
Elon’s scoring run continued in the third quarter, when senior defender Jessie Penner recovered a missed shot and nearly went the whole field to notch a Senior Day goal, for her first career point, putting the Phoenix up 5-3. Immediately after, junior attacker MJ Santa Barbara drew control, which led to Scalzo scoring her second goal off another free position shot.
Up three going into the fourth quarter, Elon continued to attack the Tribe. They notched three more goals with Austin and Hackett scoring again, while junior attacker Mackenzie Coleman joined in on the fun.
Another key aspect that swung the game in Elon’s favor was their defense. After the Tribe had five shot attempts in the first quarter, they had just six combined shots the rest of the game and only scored once.
Scalzo attributed the defensive performance to the team’s grit. She said it’s impressive to see, even though she knows how capable they are of limiting opposing teams.
“They get us ready for the game,” Scalzo said. “They're so tough, and we knew they could do what they did. It's crazy, but it happens all the time.”
Hexter said the aggressiveness on offense also helped spark the defense. He said they began to feel more comfortable playing freely as the game went on.
“The whole team was locked in, and it trickled into our defense, which allowed them to be a little more aggressive and take more risks,” Hexter said.
Scalzo said she was very happy to win on Senior Day. With 17 goals in her first season, she said she has significantly benefited under the leadership of the seniors.
“They're actually the best leaders, and I love them so much,” Scalzo said. “It's such a blessing that they trust me to be on the team with them, and I want to do everything I can to help them for the season.”
The Phoenix will rest for five days before traveling to Buies Creek, North Carolina, to play Campbell University at 4 p.m. on April 10.