BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University lacrosse team clinched its spot in the 2021 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) tournament with a dominant 21-4 win over Millersville University at Steph Pettit Stadium, Tuesday. With the win, the Huskies improved to 7-4 on the year and in PSAC East play while the Marauders dropped to 3-8 for the season and 3-7 in conference action.
 
The Huskies will return to the postseason for the first time since 2018 and the third time under head coach Shannon Hertz.
 
Senior Abby Bergman (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) had a career-day for the Huskies as she posted a career-high seven goals and a pair of assists for nine points. The senior also scored her 33^rd goal of the season – also a career-high for the Collegeville, Pennsylvania native. Graduate student Angela DiPasquale (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) hit an important career milestone as well as she made her 600^th career save as a Husky as she posted seven stops today against the Marauders.
 
Bloomsburg rushed out of the gate and scored five goals in the first 5:10 of action. Sophomore Kate Roberts (Lehman, Pa./Lake Lehman) kicked off the run with her 16^th goal of the season just 52 seconds after the opening draw. After 3:02 without a goal from either team, the Huskies scored three goals in 41 seconds, including one from junior Kelsey Kilgallon (Spring City, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) and a pair of strikes from Bergman. Sophomore Annie Rollins (Shamong, N.J./Seneca) capped the five-goal run with her fifth of the season at the 24:50 mark.
 
Millersville cut the lead down to 5-2 with a pair of goals over three minutes of action but that would be as close as the Marauders would get to the Huskies. With 15:06 to play, senior Anna Dempsey (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) sparked an eight-goal for Bloomsburg that carried over into the second half. Dempsey's tally came with just a second left on the shot clock thanks to a spectacular pass from Rollins on her left. After Dempsey's 33^rd goal of the season, Kilgallon, Roberts, and Bergman each found the back of the net to give Bloomsburg a 9-2 lead at halftime.
 
Bergman opened the second half with a pair of goals, her 30^th and 31^st of the season – the 31^st tying her previous season high. Roberts pushed the Huskies lead to 12-2, their largest lead of the game, with 26:46 to play in the second before freshman Amanda Stoll (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) made it a 13-3 game with 22:41 on the clock.
 
With 20:44 to play, Millersville got one back to get the game back to a 10-goal game as Gillian Zimmerman scored on a free-position shot.  The Huskies then used another big run, this time seven-straight goals, to push their lead to 20-4 with 1:43 to play in regulation. Kilgallon kicked off the run with a pair of goals before Bergman scored her 32^nd and 33^rd goal of the season. Junior Abby Kalish (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) scored her first tally of the game with 8:07 to play while Dempsey found the back of the net for the second time to give Bloomsburg a 19-3 lead. Sophomore Haley Williams (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) capped the run with her first of the game and seventh of the year to give Bloomsburg a 20-3 lead.
 
Genevieve Speights scored with 1:43 to cut the lead down to 20-4 with her 14^th of the year. Sophomore Kelsey Clauss (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) finished off the scoring for both teams with her seventh of the season to seal the 21-4 win for Bloomsburg.
 
Bloomsburg turned the ball over just 12 times, its second-lowest of the season, and caused 18 of the Marauders 22 turnovers. Leading the way defensively for BU was senior Tiffany Diachynsky (Barto, Pa./Boyertown Area) with five caused turnovers and six ground balls. Senior Erika Biehl (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) finished with three caused turnovers and three ground balls.
 
The Huskies were nearly perfect on clears for the day with 19 of 20 successful clears and out-shot the Marauders 35-15. Millersville did win the draw control battle, however, winning 14 of the 26 draws. Each team scored just once on free position shots with Bloomsburg 1-for-4 and Millersville finished 1-for-3.
 
DiPasquale earned her seventh win of the year and 39^th of her career making seven saves in net while her Millersville counterpart, Kaleigh Sasdelli taking the loss in net with nine saves on the day.
 
The Huskies will close out conference play on Saturday as they travel to West Chester University for a 1:00 pm game on April 24. Bloomsburg will wrap up the regular season at home on Wednesday, April 28 as the Huskies host Seton Hill in non-conference action at Steph Pettit Stadium. Following the final games of the regular season, the seeding for the PSAC tournament will be made available and a full preview of the tournament will be released.