Belmont Abbey junior Laura Dowd scored six goals on six shots, all in the first half, to lead the Crusaders women's lacrosse team past the visiting Converse College Valkyries 18-5 this afternoon at Alumni Field. The Crusaders earn their first win as they move to 1-2 overall and 1-0 in Conference Carolinas, while Converse drops to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in Conference Carolinas.

Dowd led an Abbey offense that saw six different Crusaders score goals. Dowd's six were a game-high, while Elyse Mohn added four, Kristyn Kinsey chipped in with three, while Lindsay Connolly and Lauren Dichiara both added a pair. Rachael Schraeder added one. Kinsey had three assists, all on Dowd's goals, while Connolly and Emily Hudgins had one each. The Crusaders outshot Converse 31-18 and held a 27-23 edge in ground balls.

Lacey Bevilacqua led Converse with three goals, while Sam Green and Jordan Taylor had one each.

Converse opened the scoring just 1:06 into the contest before the Crusaders scored three unanswered goals. Converse scored the next two, tying the game at three, but Dowd responded with three unanswered goals in a span of 12 minutes to put the Abbey up for good.

After Taylor ended the Crusaders scoring streak, Dowd scored two more in less than a minute to double the lead to 8-4. Bevilacqua scored at the 1:49 mark to close the lead to 8-5 at the break.

The second half was all Belmont Abbey, as the Crusaders outscored Converse 10-0, outshooting them 17-8. Both teams finished with 22 turnovers, but the Crusaders logged 14 caused turnovers with Meghan McSherry leading the way with three. Goalkeeper Torry Morgan made eight saves to go along with a game-high four ground balls.