The Belmont Abbey Women's Lacrosse team won 14-9 today at Converse.  It was the first conference game of the year for the Crusaders, who are now 4-3 on the season.  Converse dipped to 3-4 on the year and 2-2 in conference play.

Jordan Hofmeister scored the first goal of the game off a free position opportunity and Kassie Easter added a goal just two minutes later for an early 2-0 Abbey lead.  Goals by Madison Eberhardt and Katelin Glass made it a 4-2 Crusader lead.  After Converse tied the game off a free position, Eberhardt gave the Crusaders the lead back with a goal with 1:06 left in the half.  At halftime, the teams were tied at five.

It did not take long for the Crusaders offense to get going in the second half.  Glass scored off a pass from Hofmeister just 2:21 into the half and Erin Kunkel added a goal just 36 seconds later to give the Abbey a 7-5 advantage.  Converse scored a goal with 24:42 to go, but Belmont Abbey responded on a goal by Rebecca Luca just 27 seconds later.  The Valkyries tied the game at eight with two quick goals at the 17:45 mark, but from that point on, the Abbey defense would only surrender one more goal.  Hofmeister found the back of the net and then set Eberhardt up for a score at the 10:00 mark for a 10-8 Abbey lead.  Later in the half, Glass scored two goals in a 44-second span to give the Abbey a 14-8 lead with just under two minutes remaining.  In the end, the Abbey walked off with a 14-9 victory.

On the night, Glass and Eberhardt led the Crusaders with four goals apiece.  Hofmeister contributed two goals with two assists, while Kunkel chipped in two goals.  Luca and Easter also scored.  Easter paced the defense with four caused turnovers and five ground balls, both tied for game-highs.  Hofmeister and Rachael Cox also picked up five ground balls each.  Kunkel picked up four.  Rebecca Stromberg won a game-high seven draw controls.  Converse only got 12 shots for the night on the Crusaders' solid defense.

The Crusaders will next take the field Wednesday at Emmanuel at 3:00PM.