Leach & Washington Combine for Six Goals in 15-7 Win Over Niagara

Monday, March 21

Pittsburgh, PA

5:00 PM

Pitt

5-5

Niagara

4-4

Niagara

Pitt

Leach & Washington Combine for Six Goals in 15-7 Win Over Niagara

3/21/2022 7:33:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

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PITTSBURGH – Carlie Leach and Ava Washington notched hat tricks to lead Pitt to a 15-7 win over Niagara Monday evening at Highmark Stadium. The Panthers defense had a strong effort throughout as Paulina DiFatta recorded 13 saves and Allyson Trice had three of the team's 12 caused turnovers.

"We were really proud of the girls today," Head Coach Emily Boissonneault said. "We talked about how important it was that we executed our systems. We took our time and I thought we did a great job doing that."

Kate Elam split a pair of defenders and skipped a shot past Niagara goalie Michelle Messenger for her 18^th goal of the season at the 9:16 mark to open the scoring. Elam then found Carlie Leach free just outside the goalie circle and Leach beat the keeper into the right side of the cage to spot the Panthers to a 2-0 lead at the 7:44 mark.

Leach added her second goal of the night off a feed from Chloe Jones with 4:27 left in the opening quarter and Kierin Ratliff-Kailbourne scored off a free position attempt less than 90 seconds later for a 4-0 Pitt lead. Niagara stopped the Pitt run to open the game with a goal by Allison McCormick off an assist from Lois Garlow with just under two minutes remaining in the quarter, but Leach scored with under a second left to complete the hat trick and push the Pitt lead to 5-1 after 15-minutes of play.

Ratliff-Kailbourne opened the scoring in the second quarter with 5:33 left in the half. Jones beat two defenders down the right side of the scoring zone before finding Ratliff-Kailbourne in front of the cage for a quick stick finish and her second goal of the night. Niagara got back to within four goals with a goal from Lexi Braniecki at the 3:37 mark.

The sophomore tandem of Maureen McNierney and Emily Coughlin connected at the 2:57 mark to push the lead to 7-2 before Niagara capped off the first half scoring with 13 seconds to play in the second quarter to enter intermission with the Panthers ahead 7-3.

Pitt pushed its lead to 11-4 by outscoring Niagara 4-1 in the third quarter. Madisyn Kittell scored her 12^th goal of the season at the 8:58 mark and Washington added a woman-up goal off a free position attempt at the 7:45 mark to extend the Pitt lead to 9-3.

Garlow countered with a woman-up goal for the Purple Eagles at the 5:24 mark before Sydney Naylor scored her second goal of the season off a back cut and feed from Kittell to push Pitt past the 10-goal mark for the seventh time in 10 games. Washington added her second of the night with 3:50 left to cap the scoring in the third quarter.

Washington finished off her first career hat trick with another woman-up goal 1:58 into the fourth quarter as Pitt extended its lead to 12-4. Lucy Rugaber added a Niagara goal less than a minute later, but Naylor scored her second of the game just 44 seconds later off a free position attempt at the 11:22 mark.

Talia Zuco tallied her second goal of the season with 4:36 remaining and Madigan Lublin scored her first career goal with 1:21 remaining to complete the Panthers scoring. Garlow scored twice in the final 3:17 of play for the Purple Eagles.

Pitt had nine different players score in the game with 12 players registering at least one point overall. Jill Fenech was effective on the draw with six draw controls to go along with three ground balls and her first career assist. Therese Pitman added five draw controls, while DiFatta collected four ground balls to go along with her 13 saves.

"I was excited to get everyone in again today and I think the difference between today and the Binghamton game is those girls that got in really did their job," Boissonneault continued. "They made adjustments and that's what we need from them so as we prepare for the upcoming games we know that we can rely on them. It was really great to see them come back and do their jobs."

Leach and Ratliff-Kailbourne extended their consecutive games with a point streak to eight, apiece, in the win over Niagara. Four-time All-America selection Paige Petty missed her second consecutive game due to injury.

Pitt returns to action Saturday, March 26 when it hosts second-ranked Boston College at Highmark Stadium. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m.