ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Junior attacker Caroline Chase (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) put up career numbers Saturday afternoon with five goals and eight points in leading the Susquehanna University women's lacrosse team to a 17-13 season-opening win. Susquehanna (1-0, 1-0 LC) opened up its season and Landmark Conference action at Elizabethtown College (0-3, 0-3 LC).
 
How It Happened
The game was back and forth in the first half as the teams were trading goals or holding quick one-goal leads. Three straight goals by first-years Caitlin Harvey (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape), Heather Riefenhauser (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson), and Kelsey Homberg (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) gave the River Hawks their first two-goal lead of the game, 7-5, with 12:52 remaining in the half. It would be a lead Susquehanna would never relinquish.
 
SU scored four of the final seven goals of the half, including three from Chase, to establish an 11-8 halftime advantage. After the first 30 minutes of play, Chase led all players with four goals and an assist.
 
The host Blue Jays started off the second half with a 3-1 run to cut the deficit to 12-11 with 16:33 remaining in the game. Elizabethtown would get no closer the rest of the way as the River Hawks fired off three unanswered goals, including a pair from senior captain Nicole Hauck (Annandale, N.J./North Hunterdon), to lead by four with just six minutes to go.
 
Elizabethtown sandwiched two River Hawk goals in the final 5:26 of the contest as the two sides split the final four scores of the game.
 
Top Performers
Chase finished the game with career- and game-bests of five goals and eight points while dishing out three assists. Riefenhauser put four goals in her collegiate debut while Hauck added her third career hat trick plus an assist.
 
First-year goalie Bea Daudelin (Baltimore, Md./Western School) helped her own cause in goal by scooping up five ground balls and causing five turnovers in addition to making 13 saves to notch the win in her collegiate debut.
 
Homberg and Hauck each collected five draw controls and junior captain Katie Hoerman (Glenmoore, Pa./Downingtown) contributed four to help the River Hawks control possession.
 
Senior attacker Lexie Sharp paced the Blue Jays with six points on three goals and three assists while senior midfielder Kate Ziegler notched four goals and five points plus a team-best three draws. In goal, graduate student Jennifer Beihoff made 14 stops in Elizabethtown's third straight loss.
 
Inside the Box Score
Shots – Susquehanna 36, Elizabethtown 33
Saves – Susquehanna 13, Elizabethtown 14
Turnovers – Susquehanna 22, Elizabethtown 20
Clears – Susquehanna 24-27, Elizabethtown 24-28
Ground Balls – Susquehanna 17, Elizabethtown 19
Draw Controls – Susquehanna 17, Elizabethtown 15
Free Position Shots – Susquehanna 2-8, Elizabethtown 3-8
 
Up Next for the River Hawks
Mar. 31 at Scranton (2-0) – Scranton, Pa. – 4:00 p.m.
 
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