LYNCHBURG, Va. – Thanks to a nine-goal outburst in the second half by the home team on Saturday, Feb. 23, Elon University women's lacrosse fell 10-6 on the road to Liberty at Liberty Lacrosse Field.
 
THE RUNDOWN
The Phoenix (2-2) scored three quick goals in the opening 10 minutes with Quinn Daly and Cami Lynch each tallying just 2:31 into the contest to make it 2-0. After Daly tallied again to make it 3-0 with 20:07 left in the opening frame, Paulina DiFatta went to work in the cage and made six saves in a nearly eight-minute stretch to keep the score at 3-0 before Lynch broke through with Elon's fourth goal and her second of the day.
 
Down the stretch in the first half, Mae McGlynn netted her 14th goal of the season to push the lead to 5-0 with 4:41 to go before halftime. But with 1:35 to go, Liberty (3-1) finally broke through with its first goal of the game to make it a four-goal game at halftime.
 
Out of the break, the Flames used the momentum from the late goal and outscored the Phoenix 9-1 in the second 30 minutes to take the win by the final score of 10-6. Melissa Birdsell scored Elon's lone goal of the second half with 23:18 to play. At the time, it put Elon up 6-3.

HIGHLIGHTS
Daly and Lynch both scored twice to lead the Phoenix. Gillian Curran, Kaley Thompson and Grace Simpson also each picked up an assist on the day with Curran adding four caused turnovers and Thompson finishing with five draw controls. DiFatta closed her day with 14 saves and a team-best five ground balls while Ashley Duggan picked up a career-high four ground balls and caused two turnovers.

Liberty was led by Brianna McCaffrey's four goals and four caused turnovers while Kayla Foster had two goals and an assist for three points. Carly White and goalie Katherine Widrick each finished with four ground balls with White also adding a team-high six draw controls.
 
NOTES
-Paulina DiFatta's 14 saves gave her a third double-digit save outing in four games wearing maroon and gold. She also had 15 saves against Campbell and 10 against No. 14 Virginia.
-Kaley Thompson has now collected 13 draw controls over the course of Elon's last two games after finishing with eight against Winthrop. She has a team-high 19 for the season.
-Liberty doubled Elon in shots with a 32-16 advantage in the end.
 
UP NEXT
Elon will continue a brief two-game road trip on Wednesday, Feb. 27, with a trip to Davidson. Opening draw is set for 6:30 p.m. After that, the Phoenix will open the month of March with three contests in a row against Power 5-foes Duke (March 3), Florida (March 7) and North Carolina (March 12) at Rudd Field.