KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University lacrosse team's defense held Kutztown University to just three goals in the second half while the Husky offense exploded for 10 as the Huskies defeated the Golden Bears, 19-9, Wednesday afternoon. With the win, the Huskies improved to 6-3 on the year and in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East action while Kutztown dropped to 1-8 on the year and in conference play.
 
As been their MO for the season so far, the Huskies used a very balanced offensive attack in the win. Ten different Huskies recorded a point, while seven found the back of the net. The offense was lead by a dynamic duo of senior Abby Bergman (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) and junior Kelsey Kilgallon (Spring City, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) who each had six goals and an assist. Senior Anna Dempsey (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) posted three goals and assist while sophomores Kate Roberts (Lehman, Pa./Lake Lehman) and Kelsey Clauss (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West), freshman Cassidy Griffin (Lake Grove, N.Y./Sachem North), and senior Allison Bardman (Barto, Pa./Boyertown Area) each had a goal. Roberts also added an assist for BU. Sophomore Annie Rollins (Shamong, N.J./Seneca) had a pair of assists while junior Abby Kalish (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) and freshman Amanda Stoll (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) each picked up a helper.
 
Once again, the offense ran through a successful day in the draw control circle as the Huskies won 19 of the 28 days and Bergman led the team with six DCs. Kalish and Stoll weren't far behind with five each.
 
Kutztown took a play out of Bloomsburg's play list as the Golden Bears won the opening draw and quickly scored to begin the game, just 50 seconds into action, something Bloomsburg has done most of the year. The 1-0 lead held for the next four minutes before Kilgallon got on the board for the first time at the 25:10 mark to tie the game at 1-1. The Golden Bears scored the game's next two goals to go up 3-1, but Bardman kicked off a short 3-0 sprint for the Huskies that included a pair of goals from Bergman, to give Bloomsburg its first lead, 4-3, with 18:14 to play in the half.
 
After another goal from KU tied the game at 4-4, Dempsey and Bergman went back-to-back with goals to give the lead back to BU, 6-4, with 12:18 to play. The Golden Bears answered with a pair of goals of their own to tie the game for the fourth time in the half, but Bloomsburg rattled off 12-straight strikes to take a commanding 18-6 lead. Three of those goals came in the final minutes of the first half, while the run spilled over into the second half. Griffin kicked off the run with her fourth of the year with 7:55 to play and Bergman and Dempsey scored the final two goals of the opening period.
 
Head coach Shannon Hertz's halftime speech sparked a fire in the Huskies and they came out shooting in the second and exploded for nine goals in the first 13 minutes of action. Kilgallon kicked off the run with her ninth goal of the year. The run featured five from Kilgallon, two from Bergman, and one goal from Clauss and Roberts. Kutztown halted the offensive output from Bloomsburg as Lesley Lane scored her first of the year with 9:10 to play in the game to cut the BU lead down to 18-7. After Lane's goal, the Golden Bears scored two more times to trim the lead back under 10, 18-9, with 1:19 to play. Dempsey finished off the game's scoring with her team-lead 29^th goal of the year with 35 seconds left to seal the 19-9 victory.
 
Graduate student Angela DiPasquale (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) earned her sixth win in net this season for the Huskies as she made six saves in the 60 minutes of action. Defensively, the Huskies were led by Kalish with a pair of caused turnovers while DiPasquale had four ground balls.
 
The Huskies out-shot Kutztown 37-19 and completed 16 of their 17 clears. Bloomsburg caused 19 of the Golden Bears turnovers and held them to a 21-for-31 day in clears.
 
Bloomsburg continues to short road trip as the Huskies head to Shippensburg University on Saturday for a 1:00 pm PSAC East match up. Earlier this season, the Huskies defeated the Raiders 17-7 at home. Shippensburg comes into Saturday's game 3-7 on the year and 3-6 in conference play after defeating Shepherd 12-9 on Wednesday.
 
Game Notes:
 
• Bergman's goal with 1:38 to play in the first half that gave BU an 8-6 lead represented her 100^th career point at BU.
• Dempsey's 29 goals so far this season marks a career-best for the senior in season goals while the Huskies still have at least four more games to go.
• The 19 goals by the Huskies are the most scored by BU this season.