Elmira, NY – The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's lacrosse team ventured into New York state for its first matchup after a 3-0 week on spring break to face Elmira. The Panthers scored the first 12 goals of the game against the Soaring Eagles and eventually won the contest 15-1.
The first five minutes of the game saw the teams sharing possession, with both squads registering shots before the Panthers found the back of the net. Christina Abel scored the opener, sprinting past her defender before bouncing a shot past the goalie. A few minutes later, Aryanna Hatch doubled the Pitt-Bradford lead. Samantha Burke circled the defense with an Elmira player in the box and flipped a pass to Hatch, who was able to scoop a shot over the goalie for her 9th of the season. To finish the first period, Haley Carlo picked up a ground ball in the corner and then spun between defenders to fire a shot high into the net, giving the Panthers a 3-0 lead after one.
The Panthers continued to maintain possession in the second quarter and, despite two penalties, kept the Soaring Eagles off the board. After five and a half minutes of play in the period, Addison Molampy added to the lead. The freshman attacker used a pick by Olivia Garcia to find space inside the defense and placed a shot into the top corner. The continuous Pitt-Bradford pressure began to wear down the Elmira defense, and the Panthers were able to tack on four more goals in the next three minutes of play. Abel picked up a ground ball at midfield and sprinted into attack. She beat her defender one-on-one and used another bounced shot to double her tally. Seconds after the restart, she assisted another Panther goal. Abel won the draw and, after moving into the offensive zone, found Garcia in the middle of the defense, who caught the pass, turned, and rolled a low shot into the goal.
A minute later, Molampy scored her second. She received a pass from Carlo behind the net and squeezed between her defender and the crease, beating the goalie from close range to put the Panthers ahead 7-0. Pitt-Bradford added another immediately after the restart, when Garcia doubled her tally. Burke picked up the ground ball and transitioned into attack, finding Garcia in front of the net, who easily beat the keeper. After a two-minute Elmira penalty with five minutes left in the half, Garcia wrapped up her hat-trick. With an advantage, Molampy controlled possession on the right wing and fired a pass into Garcia next to the goal. The senior attacker caught the pass and quickly released a shot into the goal for her third of the game. Two minutes later, Abel also scored her third. She took possession of the ball behind the goal and, after faking a pass, took a shot over her defender that bounced into the goal. Pitt-Bradford was not finished in the half, as they added one more with a minute remaining. Abel won the draw and sprinted into the offensive third. She picked out Garcia, who was unguarded behind the defense. Garcia caught the pass, turned, and beat the goalie from close range for her fourth of the game, giving the Panthers an 11-0 halftime lead.
In the second half, Lily Thuman was forced into an early save, but the Panthers quickly countered and scored their 12th of the game. Garcia continued to be a net front menace for the Panthers, and after Hatch picked up a ground ball, she passed to Garcia, who was wide open in front of the crease. Garcia released a quick shot after receiving the pass and beat the goalie for her 5th. The Panthers carved out enough space for a few more shots in the quarter, but it would be the hosts that scored next. After a green card penalty and an additional foul, the Soaring Eagles converted a free position shot for their first of the game.
Leading 12-1 in the final quarter, Pitt-Bradford changed goalies, bringing in Brooke George for the last 15 minutes. The Panthers continued to attack and added three more goals to their final tally. Five mintues in, Garcia brought her final tally to 6. Burke picked up a loose ball and moved possession into the final third. She slipped a pass to Garcia, who juked around the goalie and shot into the open net. 90 seconds later, Carlo scored the Panthers' 14th goal. She scanned the Elmira defense from the left side of the goal and edged out her defender, creating enough space for a sidewinding shot that found the left side of the goal. To finish the game, Abel scored her 4th with 3 minutes on the clock. From behind the goal, Molampy spotted Abel open on the wing. Abel caught the ball and released a low shot in one motion, which snuck between the goalie and the near post.
Olivia Garcia led the Panthers with 6 goals from 9 shots. Christina Abel added 4 goals of her own, while also picking up 2 assists. She led the team in draw controls with 4. Haley Carlo and Addison Molampy each found the net twice from 4 shots, while Aryanna Hatch scored 1, assisted 1, and won 3 draws. Lily Thuman protected the goal for three quarters of the game and was credited with 3 saves and the win. Brooke George was in the Panther net for the remaining quarter and made 1 save.
The Panthers have now won four consecutive games and pushed their record to5-3. They will finally return home this weekend, as they will host Thiel at Rathburn Family Field at 1:00 p.m.
