Panthers Move to 2-0 With 12-5 Win Over Siena

Friday, February 18

Pittsburgh, PA

5:00 PM

Pitt

2-0

Siena

1-1

SIEW

Pitt

Panthers Move to 2-0 With 12-5 Win Over Siena

2/18/2022 7:49:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

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PITTSBURGH – Pitt took advantage of its free position opportunities converting eight of 10 attempts en route to a 12-5 win over Siena Friday evening at Highmark Stadium. Sophomore Kate Elam recorded five goals, converting all four free position attempts, and Paige Petty added two goals and an assist as the Panthers moved to 2-0 in their inaugural season.

"It feels really great to get our second win," said head coach Emily Boissonneault. "I think a big part of starting a program is learning how to win and a big step up from Friday is we were a lot cleaner with our turnovers. Getting some of those nerves out of the way and we are still working on some execution stuff, but it was a step in the right direction. We just keep telling the girls that if we're making improvements, we're going to be in a great spot when we need to step up against those big time opponents."

Siena opened the scoring 47 seconds into the contest with a goal by Jordan Bentley. Pitt responded with the next four goals as Emily Coughlin netted her first career goal at the 8:31 mark of the first quarter and Elam ripped off three consecutive goals (1^st, 7:59, 2^nd; 6:45, 2^nd; 5:33) to grab a 4-1 lead midway through the second quarter.

Bentley added a free position goal at 4:44 to trim the Siena deficit but Pitt again responded quickly.

Petty extended her consecutive points streak to 65 games on an unassisted goal at the 2:53 mark in the second quarter. The Benardsville, N.J., native tacked on a free position goal just 53 seconds later to take advantage of a man-up opportunity and spot the Panthers to a four-goal lead, 6-2, that they would carry into the half.

Chloe Jones (9:33) found the back of the net off a feed from Petty and Elam beat the Siena goalie for a fourth time at the 5:22 mark in the third to extend the lead to 8-3. Freshman Dylana Williams added her first career goal off a free position with 2:11 left in the quarter and added an unassisted goal off a nice face dodge from the top of the circle 35 seconds later to push the advantage to 10-3.

The two teams traded goals in the fourth quarter with Julia Foster (9:39) collecting her first as a Panther before Elam capped off the night with her fifth goal off a free position attempt with 1:31 left to play.

Pitt dominated the draw throughout the night posting a 13-8 advantage, including a 6-0 mark in the third quarter. Petty collected a team-high eight draw controls, while Talia Zuco and Brittney Villhauer each added a pair.

Paulina DiFatta posted five saves on the night for the Panthers and Jones collected two of Pitt's seven caused turnovers. The Pitt defense limited Siena to 19 shot attempts compared to 15 turnovers for the Saints.

The Panthers return to action Sunday afternoon (12 p.m.) against St. Bonaventure at Highmark Stadium.

"Going into Sunday, we're just talking about preparation and making sure we're finishing and executing our opportunities," added Boissonneault.