via press release/website, by Margaux Munick

BOX SCORE

acksonville, Fla. – The Jacksonville Women’s Lacrosse team fell to Liberty Flames 12-10 Saturday afternoon. 

JU STAT LEADERS 

GOALS – Sarah Elms, Hudson Gentile (3)
GROUND BALLS – Kaila Stasulli (5)
DRAW CONTROLS – Molly Brock (10)

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Despite hat tricks from seniors Sarah Elms and Hudson Gentile, the Dolphins came up short against Liberty.

The Flames (5-5, 1-0 ASUN) opened the game with a three-goal lead at the 12:26 mark of the first quarter. Elms and Lauren Ellis answered back with two goals for the Dolphins. The Flames scored five of the next six goals to earn themselves a five-goal lead at the end of the second quarter.

The Dolphins (5-6, 1-1 ASUN) responded with three goals in the first quarter and could not notch a successful shot in the second quarter. 

Jacksonville began to gain momentum at the top of the third quarter, moving the ball around the 12 meters; the Dolphins’ offense opened up and successfully made plays to Elms and Gentile to score the first two goals to pull within 8-5. Liberty was able to answer back with two of the next five goals. 

Jacksonville headed into the fourth quarter fired up and looked ready to close the 10-8 gap. Molly Brock had the first goal of the quarter to make it 10-9; Liberty re-extended its lead 11-9 with a goal from Cami Merkel. The Dolphins got the deficit to one goal with a last-minute shot from Elms, who scored her 35th goal of the year. Ultimately Liberty was able to rip one final shot off to win. 

“We got off to a slow start and credit to Liberty – they didn’t,” head coach Tara Singleton said.  “Their strong start is what earned them this win today. It certainly took us a little bit, but the team found a way to respond to keep us in the game. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to overcome the early deficit.” 

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Jacksonville had 22 ground balls to Liberty’s 16.
Sarah Elms and Hudson Gentile both had multi-goal games.

UP NEXT

The Dolphins travel to Kennesaw, Georgia, to take on Kennesaw State Thursday, April 6.