WENHAM, Mass. - The Hartford women's lacrosse team improved to 2-1 in Conference of New England (CNE) play on Saturday defeating Gordon College. The Hawks would score a program record 23 goals in the win while generating 37 points from eight different goal scorers.

Rapid Recap:

• The Hawks jumped ahead quickly as senior Sara Costa (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) found junior Lauren Samela (Cheshire, Conn.) for a goal just a minute and six seconds into the game. Junior Mandi Rivard (Vernon, Conn.) would make a pair of saves for Hartford as they stayed in front just 1-0 in the early going. From the 8:50 mark to the 5:35 mark the Hawks shined scoring six times to propel the lead to 7-0. Junior Katie Graham (Colchester, Conn.) and Samela scored twice during the run, while senior Courtney Ingham (Bedford, N.H.) and sophomore Kate Zonin (North Smithfield, R.I.) added the others. The Hawks were not done as freshman Madeline Aiello (Whitesboro, N.Y.) and sophomore Brenna Slattery (Wilbraham, Mass.) each would add goals as Hartford cruised to a 9-0 start.
• Samela got Hartford into running time after four minutes of the second finishing the 10th goal on the day for the visitors. Slattery would add the next two goals and after a goal from junior Talei Ricketson (Centennial, Colo.) the Hawks saw themselves up 13-0 with 4:52 till halftime. The Fighting Scots would get on the board as Hannah Rose would score the lone goal for the home team as the teams ended the first half. 
• Aiello and Slattery would add scores out of the break within the first four minutes as the lead hit 15-1. Zonin would bury the remaining two goals in the quarter as Hartford continued to cruise now up 17-1 with 15 minutes to play. 
• Aiello would kick off the fourth with her third goal of the day. Sophomore Jaleen Ruiz (Goshen, N.Y.) would add the next two goals to get Hartford to 20 goals on the day. Ingham and Aiello would get the next two with Graham ending the scoring with the 23rd goal with 24 seconds to play on an assist from freshman Olivia Shepherd (Missoula, Mont.). Sophomore Nora Miller (Ellington, Conn.) made a single save in the final 15 minutes as Hartford picked up the win. 

Post Game Press:
"After a tough midweek loss, it felt great to get this win as a team", said sophomore Brenna Slattery (Wilbraham, Mass.). "We really focused on staying composed, trusting each other, and playing our game. Everyone stepped up, and it shows the resilience and depth this team has which is great to have moving forward with our season."

Inside The Numbers:

• Slattery led the way for the Hawks with a great two-way game. The sophomore finished with a career-high four goals to go with three caused turnovers and five ground balls. Samela led the offensive production with six points on four goals and two assists. The junior added 11 draw controls and four grounders. Zonin and Graham each added five points in the win both on three goals and two helpers. Aiello also picked up her first collegiate hat trick scoring four overall goals in the win. 
• Costa led the passing with a career-high four assists in the victory. Shepherd added her first career multi point game with two assists in the win. 
• Rivard picked up the win playing the first 19 minutes stopping two shots. Miller played the final 15 making one save.  Junior Emily Campbell (Plainville, Mass.) allowed the lone goal in the second quarter. 
• Hannah Rose had the only point for the Scots in the loss. 
•  Hartford out shot the Fighting Scots by a 43-4 margin in the win while winning 20 of 25 draws in the game. 
• The 23 goals in a single game is the most in program history passing the 21 goal game against Clark University on Feb. 22nd of 2023. 

Up Next:
The Hawks will head home to host Curry College on March 31st with a 7:00 PM start time at Al-Marzook Field at Alumni Stadium. 

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