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JU Women: Della Rocca, Dolphins dominate Coastal Carolina 16-4

Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in .
via press release – photo by Skip Tapp   JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Danielle Della Rocca poured in four goals and as many assists Sunday as Jacksonville blitzed Coastal Carolina 16-4 at D.B. Milne Field. The Dolphins win for the second-straight year against the Chanticleers. Della Rocca has scored four goals in two of four contests this season and has 10 career games of four or more goals. She also picked up five ground balls Sunday. Jacksonville (1-3) posted season-highs in shots (33) and draw controls (13) in the 12-goal victory. “It was fun to see our team come up and play our run-and-gun style of play,” Dolphins’ coach Mindy McCord said. “Working possessions was one of our goals, and I thought we played fast, hustled to a lot of possessions, won the ground ball battle and dominated on the draw. Having 10 different scorers along with an eight-point person (Della Rocca), it’s hard to stop us when we get that many people scoring. I’m very proud of the performance of the team and how so many people stepped up.” The Dolphins and Coastal Carolina (0-2) traded the first four goals before Jacksonville tallied nine-straight to blow open the match. Della Rocca tickled the twine four minutes into the match for the first goal of the day. Sara Nolan tied the affair before the Dolphins’ Jaime Chapman and the Chanticleers’ Sophie Crowther each found the back of the cage within a minute of each other. From that point, it was all Dolphins, as Kelly Lacy, Lillie Miller, Jody Julmice and Amelia Pedwell lit up the scoreboard to give their team a 6-2 lead at halftime. Eight different Jacksonville players scored at least one goal in the final 30 minutes, including a hat trick by Della Rocca. Four different Dolphins recorded an assist in the period. “We wanted to come out here, execute the game plan and play together,” Della Rocca said. “This was a team win. When we stick to the game plan, everything falls into place. We have a lot of depth, from the seniors down to the freshmen, and everyone can contribute in a different way.” Chapman, Julmice and Miller each finished with two goals, while Pedwell, Lacy, Rachel Aus, Erin McGuire, Hannah Wilcox and Caitlin McMahon scored one apiece. Wilcox dished out two assists, while Aus, Chapman, Lacy and Ashtyn Hiron each had one. Hiron was also a force in the midfield all day, picking up five ground balls, winning four draw controls and causing four turnovers. “I think we all concentrated on our individual roles,” Hiron said. “I concentrated on the little things like picking up ground balls and body position on defense, just being able to turn the temp around so we’d have it in our favor. We worked really hard this week on our fundamentals and our game plan, and I think we executed really well.” Chapman, Lacy, Megan Curley and Erika Brager each picked up two ground balls. Pedwell and Brager each won two draw controls. Brager caused four turnovers, while Miller forced two. Goalkeeper Kaylyn Kearns (1-3) stopped four shots in 52:50 for the win. Mariah Cudlipp had one save in 7:10. Nolan finished with two goals and an assist in defeat. Crowther also tallied two goals, four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Netminder Jenna Stover (0-2) made 11 saves in the loss. Jacksonville outshot Coastal Carolina (33-12), picked up more ground balls (21-14) and won more draw controls (13-4). The Dolphins were 10-of-12 on clear attempts. Jacksonville hosts Campbell on Wednesday, March 9 at 7 p.m. ET.   Nicholas Petrone Associate Director of Athletic Media Relations Jacksonville University Office: 904-256-7444 Cell: 660-888-3275 judolphins.com @JUDolphins (#FearTheFin)