Score: Hartwick College 20, Elmira College 9
Records: Hartwick (8-5, 4-3 E8), Elmira (3-11, 1-6 E8)
Location: Campus Field -- Elmira, N.Y.
 
ELMIRA, N.Y. -- For the first time this season, the Elmira College women's lacrosse team played a home bout on Campus Field today, as the Soaring Eagles dropped an Empire 8 Conference bout to Hartwick College by a 20-9 final score on a beautiful afternoon in the Southern Tier. The Purple and Gold were unable to build off a strong start to the contest that saw them take an early 2-0 lead.

Despite winning the game by a double-digit margin, the Hawks were not statistically dominant in today's bout. EC held its own for much of the contest, as it suffered small deficits in shots (36-to-30), ground balls (31-to-25) and draw controls (16-to-15). In fact, Elmira topped Hartwick in both caused turnover (14-to-9) and free-position shots (12-to-7). EC was unable to take advantage of its free-position attempts, however, as Elmira went just 4-for-12 on those opportunities.

The Soaring Eagles were led in the bout by Rachel Grampp '18, who paced the team with three points (2g-1a). Rachael Goetz '20 and Kelcey Crawford '18 rounded out Elmira's multi-goal scorers with two apiece, while Louisa Lippiatt Durnell '18 (1g-1a) also ended the day with two points. Freshman goalkeeper Kacie Pierce '21 played the entire game for the Purple and Gold and made eight saves.

Crawford opened the contest's scoring in the first half by tallying her first goal of the day just 31 seconds into the bout. The Purcellville, Virginia, native used her speed to beat an opposing defender and bury a shot into the back of the net. About two-and-a-half minutes later, Grampp put EC up 2-0 with a free-position goal.

It was at this point, that the experience of the Hawks settled in, as they went on to score the next five goals to take a 5-2 lead. Hartwick went on to further the damage by scoring six of the final eight goals in the stanza to take an 11-4 advantage into the halftime break.

The Soaring Eagles continued to fight in the second half by scoring five goals, but it would not be enough. The Hawks added nine more tallies to their score to seal the 20-9 road conference victory.
 
News and Notes

• Elmira falls to 3-11 overall in 2018 and to 1-6 in E8 play.
• EC's 12 free-position shots are the second-most it has taken this year.
• The Soaring Eagles' 15 draw controls today are tied for the second-highest total the team has recorded this year.
• Hartwick's 31 ground balls today are the most by an Elmira opponent this season.
• Despite started the season late due to her responsibilities to the 2018 NCAA Tournament runner-up women's ice hockey team, Grampp now leads the Soaring Eagles in both points (27) and goals (19).
• Grampp has scored a goal in all nine games she has played.
• After today's game, Goetz is also tied with Grampp with 19 goals in 2018.
• Crawford's two goals today were her second and third this season, which tied a career high for the senior.
• Crawford also posted a season-high five caused turnovers in the contest.  

 
Up Next
The Soaring Eagles will play their final road game of 2018 on Saturday, April 28, when they battle No. 20-ranked St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York. The contest is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. at Growney Stadium.