Lyndsey Banach had two career highs with two assists and three points and goaltender Hannah Nelson matched Megan Matthews' freshman goaltending record with her fifth win to help lead the Quinnipiac University women's lacrosse team to a 15-2 victory over Saint Francis (PA) on the road Friday afternoon.

Lindsay Thomas scored her first career goal and Janelle Lopez had her first career assist. The Bobcat defense broke up 18 of the Red Flash's 27 clear attempts and caused 21 turnovers. Kara Cornelius accumulated a career high four caused turnovers while Nicole Fiore and Kristen Rochler also contributed career marks in the same category. The Bobcats also remain perfect in NEC play with the win.

Quinnipiac improves to 5-3 overall, 3-0 in NEC play. Saint Francis (PA) drops to 0-4 overall, 0-2 in NEC play.

Ashley Valentine broke up a Red Flash clear attempt and set up Katie Latonick who scored the first goal of the game at 28:00. Jenna Jester answered and tied the score up at 27:06 with her fifth goal of the season.

Quinnipiac would shake off the Red Flash goal and go on a scoring rampage. The Bobcats scored a season-high 14 unanswered goals.

Fiore put the Bobcats up for good with a free position shot at 25:14. The Bobcats continued to pepper Samantha Morgan with shots. At 10:59, Janelle Lopez got her first career assist. She passed the ball to Kelly Bruneau behind the net. Bruneau wrapped around the goal for the score. The goal would stand as the freshman's first career game winner and gave the Bobcats a 3-1 lead. The Red Flash called a timeout.

Valentine set up Fiore for a goal at 9:49 and then Bruneau assisted on a Valentine goal at 9:00 to make it 5-1 Bobcats. Fiore set up Bruneau at 7:09 and Kaitlyn Vennard followed with a goal on a free position shot at 4:24.

Quinnipiac put three more on the scoreboard before halftime. Valentine scored on an assist from Vennard at 2:22. Tiffany Manzi scored a goal set up by Banach with 49 ticks on the clock. Meghan Latonick won the ensuing draw and found Bruneau for a goal just eight seconds later. Bruneau completed her second career hat trick on the play, which also matched a career mark for goals in a game. The Bobcats finished the half with nine straight goals and held a commanding 10-1 lead at recess.

Quinnipiac scored five more unanswered goals to begin the second half. Katy Delagi set up Manzi at 24:36 for the first tally. Meghan Latonick followed with a goal at 15:39 with a helper coming from Brittany Hauser. Lopez followed with a score on a free position shot at 13:42.

With about 6:30 to play, Banach intercepted a Red Flash clear attempt on the left side from inside 20 yards. She centered a pass to Thomas who scored her first career goal at 6:20 to give Quinnipiac a 14-1 lead. Banach set her first of two career marks on the afternoon with her second helper of the contest.

Banach followed with the 14th straight Bobcat goal after taking a pass from Katie Latonick at 4:30.

Saint Francis (PA) stopped the bleeding at 3:19 on an unassisted tally by Shannon Scarola, but the Bobcats would hold on for the 15-2 win. Banach also posted her second career high of the afternoon with her third point of the contest.

Hannah Nelson made six saves on eight chances and was credited with the victory. She matched Matthews' freshman goaltending record of five wins in a season. She also saved both free position shots she faced and her .750 save percentage in the game was a career best. Samantha Morgan stopped 13 of the 28 shots she faced.

Quinnipiac can match two team records on Sunday at Robert Morris with a victory. A win would tie school records for the best start in NEC history (4-0) and consecutive wins (four) overall. A win would also give Nelson the school record for wins (six) by a freshman goaltender. Game time is noon.

2007-03-31