Senior Day And Underclassmen Offensive Outburst Highlight Goucher Women's Lacrosse Win Against Juniata

BALTIMORE, Md. – Tuesday's Goucher women's lacrosse team celebrated senior day for Maddie Hernandez (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington), Danielle Nixon (East Brunswick, N.J./East Brunswick) and Jordan Tice (Batavia, Ill./Batavia). It was a day to remember for Tice after she registered her first collegiate hat trick, but the day also showed a glimpse of the bright future with 15 goals and 13 assist coming from freshmen or sophomores in a 24-13 win against Juniata College in Landmark Conference action.

Tice notched her first collegiate hat trick in her final game at Beldon Field after posted a pair of multi-goal performances in her last four games. The senior added a ground ball and will head into her final collegiate game on Saturday with 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points along with 49 ground balls and 15 caused turnovers in 49 games including 28 starts in her collegiate career.

Nixon registered two ground balls to increase her career total to 44 ground balls, 18 caused turnovers, two goals and two assists in 50 career games including 33 starts. Hernandez recorded a caused turnover against the Eagles and now has 29 ground balls and 33 caused turnovers along with a goal and three assists in 47 games including 31 starts in her four years at Goucher.

Freshmen Emily Flinn (Ashland, Va./Patrick Henry) and Julia Gazzola (Hagerstown, Md./South Hagerstown) and sophomore  Camryn Agostino (South Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) paced the Gophers offensive attack. Flinn tied a career-high with five tallies while establishing new personal bests in assists (5), points (10) and caused turnovers (5) while Agostino added two goals along with a career best in assists (6) and points (8). Gazzola continued to stuff the stat sheet with four goals, one assist, seven ground balls, eight draw controls and five caused turnovers. Fellow freshman Aubrie DiBenedetto (Bristow, Va./Patriot) registered her first collegiate hat trick.

Juniors Alyssa Long (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) and Shannon Stull (Westminster, Md./Francis Scott Key) also had a nice afternoon. Long posted three goals and one assist along with six ground balls, two draw controls and two caused turnovers while Stull recorded three markers and two assists along with nine draw controls and a ground ball in the winning effort.

Fueled by four goals and three assists, Goucher jumped out to a 13-5 lead at the break. Gazzola added two tallies and an assist including a goal 25:33 left in the first half to give the Gophers the lead they would not relinquish on an 8-meter goal. Tice and Stull each had two of their three markers in the opening period.

Agostino powered an 11-8 second half with two goals and three assists while Benedetto registered all three of her scores and Long had two of her three goals in the final frame.

Flinn also had five goals against Randolph on March 1 while she has posted three games with at least four goals or more and seven multi-goal performances. The freshman has dished out three or more helpers five times and had a multiple assist match six times. She leads the team with 22 assists and ranks third in both goals (25) and points (47). 

Gazzola ranks second on the tam in goals (41) and points (55) while leading the team in draw controls (96), caused turnovers (25) and ground balls (39). The freshman already owns the record for draw controls in a single season at Goucher and can become the first player in program history with 100 draws in one season with four draw controls in the season finale.

Agostino registered her eighth multi-goal performance this season and 10th of her career. It is the fourth time this season she has dished out more than one assist and the second time she has notched four or more helpers in a game. Agostino ranks second to Flinn on the team in assists (17), fourth in points (40) and fifth in goals (23) and has 33 goals and 18 assists for 51 points in her career..

Long has four hat tricks and seven multi-goal performances this season and six three-goal games and 12 multi-goal performances in her career. The junior is fourth on the team in goals (24) and fifth in points (36) and has 54 goals and 20 assists for 74 points in her three seasons with the Gophers. She needs seven draw control in the season finale to reach the 100 draw controls mark for her career.

Stull has registered a hat trick in 10 of the 15 games this season and has 13 mult-goal games this year. She leads the team in goals (50) and points (63) while ranking second in draw controls (65) and has 114 goals and 14 assists for 128 points in her career. Stull is wrapping up a season where she reached the 100 milestone in goals, points and draw controls.

Alex DiGiovanni (York, Pa./Dover) also twinkled the twine on the evening while Vida Fye (Takoma Park, Md./Albert Einstein) and Elizabeth Green (Easton, Pa./Lehigh Valley Charter for the Arts) also dished out helpers in the victory.

Goucher has clinched its first non-losing season since 2016 and can post its first winning season since 2015 with a victory at Drew University on Saturday. Match time is 1 p.m.