SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The No. 20 New Haven women's lacrosse team fell to unbeaten Le Moyne College 17-5 in the second round of the 2021 conference championships. The Dolphins will advance to the divisional championship Thursday.

THE LEADERS
Junior Julia Astram (Milford, Conn./Milford) finished with a pair of goals as the only multi-goal scorer for the Chargers, ahead of a trio of players who reached the back of the net once. Freshman Cypress Levitt (Calais, Vt./Montpelier) was finished with the only two assists for New Haven, while also collecting a pair of draw controls. 

Senior Raven Linton (Lawrenceville, N.J./Notre Dame) ended her career with the Blue and Gold with four draw controls, leaving her as the program record holder in that category with 318. Freshman Gabby Buscemi (East Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) stopped 12 of Le Moyne's shots on net, setting a new career-high for the rookie netminder.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Dolphins opened the scoring 48 seconds into the match, the first of three goals in the opening five minutes of play. Julia Astram (Milford, Conn./Milford) would score for the Chargers to get them on the board just over six minutes in.

Le Moyne would add its fourth goal just 32 seconds later to retake a three goal lead. Senior Emily Holland (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) would score for New Haven a couple minutes later, before the home side went on an eight goal run to take a 12-2 lead into the break.

Out of halftime, junior Marina Skelly (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot) scored 56 seconds into the period, marking the 13th time in 14 games this season that she has reached the back of the net. Le Moyne would then score back-to-back goals to open a 12 goal advantage, before senior Mary Rishmany (Tiverton, R.I./Bishop Stang) scored her 13th of the season.

The Dolphins would add another two goals in the game, separated by Astram's second of the game, to close a 17-5 win over the Chargers. Le Moyne will host the winner of No. 2 Pace and No. 3 Adelphi for a spot in the conference championship game.

FINAL STATS
With the loss, New Haven ends the 2021 season 7-7 (6-5 NE10) scoring an even 150 goals, third best in the conference, led by Skelly who had a team-high 36 this season. On defense, the Blue and Gold also finished third in the conference with 175, led by Levitt with 71 and Linton with 53.

The 22nd season of women's lacrosse at the University of New Haven will begin in the spring of 2022. Stay tuned to NewHavenChargers.com for the latest news on all 17 varsity teams and thank you for supporting the Chargers all season long.