WASHINGTON, D.C. - Three Blackbirds posted hat tricks or better as the LIU Brooklyn women's lacrosse team downed Howard, 19-3 in its season opener on Friday afternoon. The team scored 12 goals in the second half, while limiting the Bison to just one.
Sophomore Jenn Peters scored five to lead LIU, while freshmen Sierra O'Connor and Kat Gosselin combined for seven in their collegiate debuts. Freshman Dale Cosgrave also added six assists and two goals.
Junior goalkeeper Alexis Maldonado made 9 saves, while freshman Darrien Diez posted two in her first college game. Together, they combined for a 0.786 save percentage.
"It was a great game to get our feet wet," said head coach Allison Nuzzi. "We had a lot of production from our underclassmen and some steady play from our upperclassmen. Howard tested us with speed and their goalkeeper had our number early, but I was proud of our ability to make adjustments in the moment."
O'Connor scored her first goal early on, just less than four minutes in. Howard would tie it up two minutes later, but LIU then went on an 6-0 to close out the first half. Peters and Gosselin each scored twice in the first half, while Carlie Robinson would also score her first collegiate goal. The Bison managed only seven shots on goal, despite LIU only winning three draw controls to their six.
The Blackbirds would score 12 times in the second half. The duo of O'Connor and Cosgrave put the ball away just a minute and 40 seconds in, before Cosgrave found O'Connor again less than a minute and a half later. Howard would score its second goal of the game with 25:47 to play, but sophomore Mary McQueen won the following draw control and took the ball down the field to give LIU the 10-2 lead.
Peters would score twice in the next five minutes and senior Colleen Holmes also added a goal, as the Blackbirds worked their lead up to 13-2 with 20 minutes still to play. The Bison scored one more with 19:43 to play, but the remaining minutes belonged all to LIU. Cosgrave had two goals and two more assists, while Peters and O'Connor each had three in the final 30 minutes.
The Blackbirds led in shots on goal, 29-14 as well as ground balls, 16-7, with four coming from Robinson, who also had three caused turnovers and four draw controls. Eight Blackbirds contributed to the scoring on the day.
"The girls will learn a lot from this experience and I am very pleased with their overall effort," Nuzzi said.
LIU Brooklyn continues its four-game road trip next week against Mercer on March 6 at 4:00 p.m. in Macon, Ga.