NEWARK, DE -- Sophomore attack Nicole Flego and senior attack Casey McCrudden scored five goals apiece to lead the University of Delaware women's lacrosse team to a 16-8 victory over Maryland-Baltimore County on Monday evening at Rullo Stadium.

Delaware (3-1, 0-0 Colonial Association) defeated UMBC for the second straight year and extended its home winning streak to 12 games dating back to the 2006 season.

UD dominated from the opening whistle, out-shooting the Retrievers 37-20 and forcing 17 turnovers to hand UMBC its third straight loss.

The Hens trailed 2-1 before they exploded for four unanswered goals in just under four minutes, taking a 5-2 lead on a goal by senior midfielder Katie Muth with 12:06 left. Flego scored twice in a 20-second span during the run, notching both of her goals on assists from sophomore midfielder Emily Schaknowski.

After the Retrievers closed to within three on Erika Braerman's unassisted goal with five minutes remaining in the first half, Muth collected a pass from Alexis Curcio and beat UMBC goalie Susie Sweeney to give the momentum back to Delaware. McCrudden added an unassisted goal just 35 seconds before the halftime horn, and UD led 9-4 at intermission.

Sophomore attack Courtney Aburn began the second half with a bang, finding the net just 10 seconds into the period courtesy of a Holly Burman draw control. The Hens wouldn't let up, as McCrudden tallied her fourth goal of the evening nine seconds after Aburn's score. Flego struck again at the 25:14 mark and netted her fifth goal of the game 42 seconds later, the Hens' sixth consecutive score.

McCrudden capped an electric offensive performance with a goal at 19:08, pushing the Blue Hen lead to 14-4 and forcing the mercy rule into play. Three late goals by UMBC star Ali Levendusky didn't do much to dent the Delaware lead. The Hens played keep-away for the last few minutes and eased to their second straight win.

Levendusky led UMBC (2-5, 1-1 America East) with three goals on the night and now has 22 on the year, most in the America East.

Junior goalkeeper Jessica Cerveny made six saves to improve to 3-1 on the season.

Schaknowski finished with two goals and two assists to follow up a three-goal, three-assist outing versus St. Bonaventure on Saturday, while Muth recorded two goals and an assist on the night. Junior defender Amanda Lahiff made life miserable for the Retrievers, causing three turnovers and picking up one ground ball.

Delaware returns to the field on Thursday, when the Hens travel to South Bend, IN to take on 13th-ranked Notre Dame at 4:00 p.m.

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NEWARK, Del.-Senior attack Ali Levendusky (Baldwin, Md./John Carroll) posted another hat trick – her sixth of the season – but the UMBC women's lacrosse team (2-5) dropped its third straight game, 16-8, to host Delaware (3-1) Monday evening.

The Retrievers held a 2-1 lead with 19:38 remaining in the first half on goals by sophomore midfielder Kelly Burgoyne (Sykesville, Md./Century) and freshman midfielder Amanda Pappas (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake), but the Blue Hens scored four straight goals and eight of the last 10 to take a 9-4 halftime advantage. Delaware attack Nicole Flego scored three times during that stretch, while attack Casey McCrudden and midfielder Katie Muth each tallied twice.

The Blue Hens scored the first five goals of the second half to take a commanding 14-4 lead with two more tallies each by Flego and McCrudden.

Levendusky scored three straight goals in a six-minute span to pull the Retrievers to within seven, but UMBC would get no closer.

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2008-03-10