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DELAND, Fla. – Kennesaw State women's lacrosse took a 10-goal lead in the third quarter and held off a fourth-quarter rally at Stetson to give the Owls their first Atlantic Sun Conference victory of the season, 17-14 on Saturday afternoon. The win moved KSU to 5-7 on the season, 1-1 in league play while the Hatters dropped to 4-6, 0-3 in the ASUN.
KEY PLAYERS: Freshman
Mia Nardi was outstanding in goal for KSU, holding the Hatters to just six total goals in the first 45 minutes, and she finished with 15 total saves, which are tied for the fourth most in a game by an Owl in school history. Offensively, the Owls were paced by another pair of freshmen, with
Lexi Tinker scoring a game-high five goals, while
Marleigh Belinfanti was next with four.
THE RUNDOWN: The Owls took control early, as five different players all scored one goal each in the first 10 minutes of the game for a 5-1 advantage. KSU led 6-2 after the first quarter, and 10-4 going into halftime. The first four goals of the second half all came from KSU for its largest lead of the afternoon, 14-4 with 4:47 to play. Stetson found its offense over the last 16 minutes, first going on an 8-1 run over an eight-minute stretch to close within 15-12, before Belinfanti scored to put the Owls back up four. The Hatters would eventually cut the deficit to just two with under two minutes to play, but KSU managed to run out the clock before getting a final score from
Shannon Harrington in the final seconds.
POSTGAME QUOTES – HEAD COACH LAURA MANESS
"I think it was a great team effort today. Our goalies put us in a great position to have a lead the entire game. Our offense meanwhile had eight different scorers contribute, so it was great to have balance on that side of the field. Credit to Stetson who got a late run after our large lead but glad down the stretch we made some critical stops to secure our first conference win."
NOTES
-The win was the first for KSU in conference play since a 15-14 victory over Lindenwood on April 29, 2023. It was also the first road conference victory since a 13-4 win at Delaware State on April 22, 2023.
-KSU won despite losing the draw control battle by a 23-12 margin.
NEXT UP: The Owls continue with ASUN action as they will host Jacksonville on Thursday, April 3 at 3 p.m. at Fifth Third Stadium.
