MANCHESTER, N.H. – Trailing by one heading into the final 15 minutes of the game, the New Haven women's lacrosse team went on to score two straight and outscore the Penmen 9-4 in the fourth quarter all leading to a 22-18 road win over No. 24 Southern New Hampshire. With the win, New Haven improves to 8-5 on the season and 5-3 in the Northeast-10 Conference.
Six different Chargers found the back of the cage in the final quarter, led by graduate transfer Savannah Ernst (American Fork, Utah/American Fork) who scored three of the nine goals in that frame. The first for Ernst in that stretch was the initial go-ahead goal while senior Annie Acquavita (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) netted the game-tying goal just 45 seconds into the final frame. Ernst followed that up with the go-ahead goal just over two minutes later.
Overall for the game, Ernst led all players in the game with nine points, tied for the most goals in the game while leading her team with five goals while adding four assists. Acquavita followed her with six points, splitting those evenly with three goals and three assists.
Joining Ernst and Acquavita with a hat trick on the day was three additional Chargers; senior Camryn Antler, sophomore Raegan Bailey (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) and freshman Marielle Colalillo (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset). Of that trio, Antler and Colalillo each finished with four goals, while Bailey joined Acquavita with three tallies. Bailey also added an assist for four points total.
Senior Kyra Sparks (Jefferson, N.J./Jefferson Township) was the only other Charger to rack up multiple goals as she finished with a pair, while junior Ivanna Hernandez (Bay Shore, N.Y./Brentwood) finished with two points on one goal and one assist. In addition to her nine points, Ernst also finished the night with five draw controls and a caused turnover, while Bailey added four draw controls and a caused turnover. Junior Cypress Levitt (Calais, Vt./Montpelier) led all Chargers with 11 draw controls.
For the game, New Haven finished with 37 total goals, marking 30 on goal. The Penmen split their goalies on the day with Megan Mollman finishing with six saves and Megan Petko adding a pair. On the opposite end of the field, Charger goalkeeper Gabby Buscemi (East Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) finished her afternoon with 10 saves, her eight game of the season with double figure stops, including the last five straight games.
The Chargers will continue conference action with the second of three-straight road games on Wednesday night when they travel to Worcester, Mass and Brian Kelly Stadium for a 7:00 p.m. opening draw against the Assumption Greyhounds.
