BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University women's lacrosse's offense stayed hot even in the warming temperatures as the Huskies out-lasted Shepherd University, 16-12, in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) opener for both teams. In the win, the Huskies got career days from senior Kelsey Kilgallon (Spring City, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) and junior Annie Rollins (Shamong, N.J./Seneca).
 
Kilgallon tied her career-high goals in a single game with six while adding a pair of assists to post a career-best eight points. The senior now has 82 career points. Rollins chipped in five goals, including two in the final three minutes of action to help pull away from Shepherd for a career-high goal performance. Senior Abby Kalish (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) finished the day with three goals, while junior Kate Roberts (Lehman, Pa./Lake Lehman) had a pair of goals and an assist. Kalish won a team-best six draw controls while freshman Lauren Foley (Schwenksville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) picked up four ground balls and made six saves in the win.
 
Senior Erin Gingrich (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) led the team with three caused turnovers, while Amanda Biehl (Springfield, Pa./Springfield), Erika Biehl (Springfield, Pa./Springfield), Amanda Stoll (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale), and Jada Johnson (Reading, Pa/Governor Mifflin) had two.
 
As a team, the Huskies were 15-of-22 on clears and won the draw control battle, 18-13. The Huskies won the ground ball battled 24-13. Bloomsburg finished the day 4-for-7 on free-position shots.
 
Shepherd was 12-for-15 in clears and was just 2-for-5 on free-position shots.


Kilgallon got the scoring going in the first quarter as the Huskies took advantage of an extra attacker due to a Shepherd yellow card. Nearing the end of their advantage, Kilgallon drew a foul in the scoring area and set up her free position shot. The senior shot it past the Rams' goalie to give BU a 1-0 lead at the 9:59 mark.
 
However, the lead was short-lived as the Rams answered with 4:53 to play in the first. The teams traded the following two goals before Kalish and Roberts went back-to-back in the quarter's final minute to give Bloomsburg a 4-2 lead heading into the second period.
 
The Rams scored just 23 seconds into the second quarter before the Huskies rattled off five-straight strikes to take an 8-3 lead. Kilgallon opened the run at the 8:13 mark, and Roberts capped it with her second of the game with 3:01 to play before halftime. After Shanna Dextrader halted the run for Bloomsburg with her first goal of the game at the 58-second mark, Rollins scored with 39 seconds left before the break to give Bloomsburg a 9-4 lead at halftime.
 
Rollins and Kilgallon scored the first two goals of the third quarter to push the Huskies' lead to 11-4 before Shepherd mounted a short comeback attempt on a 5-1 goal run over eight minutes of gameplay. Once the Rams trimmed the lead to three, 12-9, Kilgallon ended the quarter with her 14^th strike of the season to give BU a 13-9 lead going into the final quarter.
 
Kalish opened the final quarter with her third goal of the game to extend the Husky advantage to 14-9 with 13:43 to play before the Rams pulled to within two goals, 14-12, thanks to three-straight tallies with 8:13 to play.
 
After a successful clear by the Rams with 3:49 on the clock, Johnson caused a turnover in front of the Husky cage, and Amanda Biehl (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) picked up the ground ball to help the Huskies to a successful clear. Bloomsburg used the new possession to push its lead to 15-12 as Rollins finished off a free position shot with 2:28 to play. Johnson won the ensuing draw, and Rollins capped the game's scoring with her fifth of the game at the 1:24 mark and pushed the Huskies' lead to 16-12. With 19 seconds to play, Dextradeur put one final attempt on the cage, and Foley made her sixth save of the game to preserve the win for Bloomsburg.
 
The Huskies join West Chester and East Stroudsburg as one of the only three teams on the East to open conference play with a win on Wednesday.
 
Bloomsburg puts its three-game winning streak to the test on Saturday as the Huskies host Kutztown for a 1:00 pm conference contest at Steph Pettit Stadium.