BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University women's lacrosse team surged past Shepherd University, 17-5, in the first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East contest for both schools. With the win, the Huskies improved to 4-1 on the year and 1-0 in the PSAC East while the Rams dropped to 3-2 for the season and 0-1 in conference action.

Bloomsburg got out to a quick 3-0 start in the first eight minutes as freshman Haley Williams (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley), and junior Abby Bergman (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) buried a pair of free-position shots three minutes apart. Freshman Annie Rollins (Shamong, N.J./Seneca) pushed the Huskies lead to 3-0 with her first collegiate goal at the 22:22 mark.

Shepherd won the draw following Rollins' goal, and Katherine Campbell got the Rams on the board with a free-position goal at the 21:41 mark. Williams scored another pair of goals before Jordan Sauro cut the Husky lead to 5-2 with 13:24 to play in the half.

The Huskies scored another pair of goals, this time from Rollins and redshirt junior Grace Kelleher (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) to push their lead to 7-2 at the break.

The Rams sandwiched a pair of goals around junior Anna Dempsey's (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) first goal of the game to cut the lead to 8-4 with 25:56 to play in the contest. Shepherd added one more at the 23:43 mark after the Rams successfully cleared the ball after grabbing a ground ball at the other end of the field. Sidney Kelly's goal cut the Bloomsburg lead to 8-5, but that proved to be the last Ram goal of the contest.

Bloomsburg rattled off nine-straight goals to close out the half and dominating possession. Dempsey kicked off the run at the 22:34 mark with her second of the game and eighth of the season. The junior went on to score twice more for four goals in the game. Freshman Kelsey Clauss (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) added a pair of goals while Bergman chipped in one more, and senior Kirsten Wozniak (Oradell, N.J./River Dell Regional) recorded her seventh of the season at the 12:32 mark. After Clauss and Dempsey scored back-to-back goals, senior CailynGormley finished off the scored with her fifth and sixth of the season, including a free position shot with 24 seconds left in the game.

During Bloomsburg's 22-minute scoring run, the Husky defense shined as it only allowed the Rams to get off three shots. Just two were on target, and the third was a free position shot that went wide. Shepherd turned the ball over five times in that span, and Bloomsburg caused four of the turnovers.

Dempsey led the Huskies with four goals while Williams posted three. Bergman, Gormley, Clauss, and Rollins each chipped in a pair of goals as well. Kelleher led the team with three assists and scored once. Dempsey also won a game-best 11 draw controls while junior Erika Biehl (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) caused three turnovers and picked up four ground balls.

Senior Angela DiPasquale (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) picked up her third win of the year, needing just four saves – three coming in the second half. Hailey Bennett took the loss for the Rams after making 11 saves between the pipes.

Bloomsburg continues PSAC East play on Saturday as the Huskies travel to Kutztown University for a 1:00 p.m. opening draw. The Golden Bears come into the game 2-3 on the year and will play their first conference game on Saturday.

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