BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The #20 Bloomsburg lacrosse team is off to its best start under head coach Shannon Hertz as the Huskies improved to 5-0 with their 15-8 win over Shepherd, Wednesday afternoon. The Huskies opened their Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference schedule 1-0 while the Rams dropped to 2-3 and 0-1 in PSAC East action.
 
Fighting through changing weather conditions, the Huskies used a fourth-quarter surge to put the Rams away and stay perfect for the season. As the final period began, the skies opened and the snow showers began. Despite low visibility conditions, Madison Coyle (Williamstown, N.J./Williamstown) needed just 10 seconds to score the first goal of the period to give the Huskies a 10-7 lead. Sophomore Julia Cote (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) found the back of the net a minute later before Coyle score for the second time in the period. Junior Tori Bruno (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) pushed the Huskies lead to 15-7 with back-to-back goals before Cassidy Griffin (Lake Grove, N.Y./Sachem North) gave the Huskies a 15-7 advantage.
 
With two minutes to play in the quarter, the snow finally stopped, and Paige Stoner scored the game's final goal for Shepherd on a free position shot to round out the score at 15-8 in favor of Bloomsburg.
 
The Huskies took the first lead of the game as Marykate Sitko (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) scored with 9:09 to play in the first and Coyle got her first strike of the game at the 6:11 mark. Kelsey King cut the lead to one, 2-1, in the first but a save by Lauren Foley (Schwenksville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) on a free position shot and a shot off the post kept the advantage in favor of Bloomsburg.
 
It took just over nine minutes before either team found the back of the net, and it was Bloomsburg to end the scoring drought as Maya Fulmer (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) scored a woman-up to give the Huskies a 3-1 lead. Cote pushed the lead to 4-1 with 3:04 to play but the Rams sandwiched a pair of goals around Brianna Austin's (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) strike to cut the lead back to two, 5-3, at halftime.
 
Freshman Kayla Stressman (Harleysville, Pa./North Penn) scored two quick goals to take a 7-3 lead less than two minutes into the third quarter but the Rams went on a 4-1 run to cut the advantage back to one goal, 8-7, with 3:58 to go in the third. With less than a minute to go in the period, Foley picked off Sierra Rose's pass on the Rams' clear attempt and Maya Fulmer (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) got the ball at midfield. Fulmer cut in through the defense and scored her second of the game to push the Huskies' lead to 9-7 and give the momentum back to the Huskies for the fourth quarter.

Coyle led all players with four goals and an assist while adding two ground balls, three caused turnovers, and four draw controls. Bruno dished out three assists to go with her two goals and four ground balls. Cote, Fulmer, and Stressman had two goals each, while Cote added a pair of assists.
 
Defensively, Coyle and Jada Johnson (Reading, Pa/Governor Mifflin) had three caused turnovers while Johnson finished the day with three ground balls. Foley led the way with five ground balls.
 
Amanda Stoll (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) won a team-best eight draw controls while Stressman won seven.

Foley finished the day with six saves in the win for the Huskies.
 
As a team, Bloomsburg won the draw control battle 20-7 and was 13-for-17 on clears. Each team had 25 turnovers, while Bloomsburg caused 18 and Shepherd forced 16.
 
The Huskies return to action on Saturday as they travel to Millersville for a 1:00 p.m. PSAC East showdown.