The Belmont Abbey women's lacrosse team won 10-5 this afternoon over the visiting Shepherd Rams.  The Abbey improves its record to 6-3 while Shepherd falls to 2-6 on the season.

Sophomore Caitlin Cook scored the first goal of the day just 1:34 into the contest off a pass from Kassie Easter.  Just a minute and a half later, sophomore Rebecca Luca made it a 2-0 game.  Later in the half, Luca scored her second goal of the day off a free position opportunity to give the Abbey 1 3-1 lead.  Roughly three minutes later , another free position goal by Luca made it a 4-1 Crusader lead.  The Abbey scored on yet another free position, this time by senior Mackenzie Miller, to go up 5-1.  A Katelin Glass goal made it 6-1, which was the lead the Crusaders took into halftime.

Just 2:23 into the second half Miller scored her second goal of the day to give the Crusaders a 7-1 advantage.  The Rams scored a man-up goal, but the Crusaders came right back as Glass made a free position shot for an 8-2 Abbey advantage.  Two goals by Shepherd pulled the Rams to within 8-4, but Glass scored on another free position to give the Crusaders a 9-4 lead with 11:09 to play.  Glass would score on one more free position opportunity to seal Belmont Abbey's 10-5 victory.

On the day, Belmont Abbey scored on six of its 10 free position shots, while Shepherd went 1-of-7 in that statistic.  Glass led the Crusaders offensive attack, scoring four goals on five shots on goals.  She also earned an assist and won two draw controls.  Luca contributed with three goals on five shots on goal and also won two draw controls.  Miller chipped in two goals.

Glass also played stubborn defense, as she forced three Shepherd turnovers.  Easter, Bryn Kelly, and Rebecca Stromberg also caused Ram turnovers. Kelly and Easter each picked up three grounds balls, while Darby D'Ambrosio had two.  Goalie Reilly Johnson made seven saves, as the Crusader defense only allowed 12 Shepherd shots.

The Crusaders will next welcome Mt. Olive on Wednesday, March 23 at 4:00 PM.