FREDERICK, Md.--The Hood College women's lacrosse team (4-4, 1-3 CAC) suffered a 22-7 setback at the hands of the No. 16 St. Mary's College (Md.) Seahawks (8-2, 3-0 CAC) Tuesday afternoon in a Capital Athletic Conference game.

Sarah Balukoff scored back-to-back goals in the first half, one on a free position shot, and added a third midway through the second half for her first hat trick of the season. Kelsey Blackwell added a pair of goals to boost her team-leading total to 22.

Brandy Noel and Abby Dyjack also added single tallies to round out the scoring for Hood.

The Blazers' seven goals are the most Hood has scored against the Seahawks in its four all-time meetings.

Hood won 11 of the 18 draws in the first half but the Seahawks had the upperhand in the second half, controlling 11 of 13 draws.

After taking a 13-4 lead at intermission, St. Mary's ripped off the first seven goals of the second stanza.

Laura Leigh Cooper paced the Seahawk attack with five goals while Nora Fallon-Oben and Lauren Carrier recorded hat tricks in the victory. Fallon-Oben also dished a team-best five assists for the visitors.

Hood, currently in fifth place in the CAC standings, next travels to league rival York College (Pa.) Saturday for a noon contest. The Spartans (2-7, 0-3 CAC) are tied with Marymount University and Welsey College for sixth place.

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Frederick, Md. – Junior attacker Nora Fallon-Oben (Silver Spring, Md./St. John's College [D.C.]) and freshman midfielder Laura Leigh Cooper (Fruitland, Md./James M. Bennett) combined for 13 points in No. 17 St. Mary's College of Maryland's 22-7 rout of Hood College in Capital Athletic Conference action Tuesday afternoon.

Fallon-Oben tallied career-highs of five assists and eight points, while also notching three goals. Cooper had a season-best performance as well with a game-high five goals. Senior midfielder Allie Zerhusen (Cockeysville, Md./Park) contributed two goals and three assists, while junior attacker Kelsey Branch added two goals and two assists.

The Seahawks (8-2, 3-0 CAC) kicked off the contest with four straight before sophomore attacker Kelsey Blackwell (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) found the back of the net for Hood (4-4, 1-3 CAC) at 16:46. St. Mary's strung together another four goals, including a pair by Cooper, before Blazer junior midfielder Sarah Balukoff (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) netted back-to-back goals. The Seahawks scored five of the first half's final six goals for a 13-4 halftime lead.

St. Mary's dominance continued in the second stanza with seven unanswered goals to start the final 30 minutes before Balukoff completed her hat trick at 14:08. Hood outscored the Seahawks, 3-2, in the final 14:08 for the 22-7 final.

Balukoff paced the Blazers with three goals and four draw controls, while Blackwell finished with two goals.

St. Mary's fired off 48 shots to Hood's 18, while sophomore midfielder Hannah Cooley's (Abington, Pa./Abington) five ground balls helped the Seahawks to a 39-22 advantage in ground balls.

Although Hood owned an 11-7 edge in draw controls in the first half, St. Mary's finished with an 18-13 margin behind four draws by senior attacker Emily Norris (Timonium, Md./Dulaney).

Senior midfielder Lauren Carrier's (Crownsville, Md./Old Mill) three-goal performance extended her NCAA Division III record for consecutive games with at least one goal to 52 straight. She started the streak as a freshman on April 15, 2006 in a loss to the University of Mary Washington.

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2009-03-24