Elon, N.C – Playing in its first home game of the season, the Elon University women's lacrosse team got a season high four goals from junior captain Cierra Hopson and a season-high eight goal scorers, along with a strong defensive effort in a 13-9 win over Furman Wednesday evening. With the win, Elon improves to 3-1 on the season and Furman falls to 1-2.
 
Fresh off her first CAA Rookie of the Week honor, redshirt freshman Ana Lee Vandiver followed it up with another strong performance, finishing with another four points, including a career-high three assists.
 
Senior Bridget Kelly scored for the Phoenix with a bit over a minute remaining to put the game out of reach. The goal was her first of the season.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Elon trailed 3-2 after the first quarter, but Cierra Hopson scored within the first minute of the second quarter to tie the game up at three.
• With the game tied 3-3, Ana Lee Vandiver scored her first and only goal of the game with 9:35 remaining in the quarter to give the Phoenix a 4-3 lead. They would never trail for the remainder of the game.
• After trailing to end the first quarter, a huge second quarter turned the game around and spurred Elon. The Phoenix outscored Furman 6-0 in the quarter to head into halftime with an 8-3 lead.
• Maddie Englekraut scored her first career goal with 9:41 remaining in the first quarter to tie the game at 1-1.
• Elon shut out Furman in the second period and scored six in a row for an 8-3 halftime lead. This is the second game in a row in which Elon has won the second quarter 6-0. In that second quarter, Hopson scored all four of her goals, while Vandiver scored one and Anna Hackett also scored once. Vandiver had three of the goals, while Cierra Hopson scored twice and Anna Hackett once.
• Furman rebounded to start the third quarter, cutting the lead to 9-5. But Lila Ceribelli scored the first goal of her career with 9:34 left in the third to put the Phoenix back up by five.
• Heading into the fourth quarter up 11-7, each team scored twice in the final period.
• Hackett scored her second goal of the evening less than three minutes into the quarter. Bridget Kelly iced it with just 1:16 remaining to give Elon their 13th and final goal of the night.

 
STATS AND NOTES

• For the second straight game, Elon won the second quarter by a score of 6-0. Trailing after the first quarter, Elon was quickly able to flip the switch.
• With the win, Elon improves to 3-0 all time against Furman, with each win coming after the turn of the decade (2021, 2022, 2024).
• Elon won its home opener for the first time since a 6-5 win over James Madison in 2021. In total, the Phoenix is 7-4 in home openers in the program history.
• Elon won in the draw circle for the fourth straight game to open the 2024 season. The Phoenix held a narrow 12-10 advantage.
• Elon's 51 goals through the first four games are the most for the program since scoring 53 in the first four games of 2017.
• MJ Santa Barbara entered the game ranked No. 1 in the CAA and No. 5 in the country in draw controls per game at 10.33. She had another strong game with seven against Furman.
• Santa Barbara's 38 draw controls are already eighth-most in a single-season in program history. She is almost halfway to the program record of 79 in a season.
• Santa Barbara's 38 draw controls are the second-most in a single-season by an Elon freshman. She is closing in on the school record of 52 set by Elle Hvozdovic in 2014.
• Caitlin Walsh made five saves in goal, allowing only single-digit goals while playing all 60 minutes.
• Maddie Englekraut scored her first career goal early in the first quarter. Lila Ceribelli scored the first goal of her career in the third quarter, while Bridget Kelly scored her first goal of the season late in the fourth quarter.
• After scoring six goals and a total of seven points in her last game against VCU, Ana Lee Vandiver continued her strong play, adding four more points against Furman, with one goal and three assists.
• Kailee Follette picked up a season high five groundballs. She now has 12 on the season.
• Elon outshot Furman 32-22, including holding a 21-14 advantage in shots on goal.
• The Phoenix held the edge in ground balls 18-16 and in caused turnovers, 7-5.
• Elon has now tied or led in the fourth quarter of every game this year.
• Thirteen different players have scored at least one point through the first four games of the season, already two more than scored a point in all of 2023.

 
UP NEXT

• Elon hosts 1-3 Coastal Carolina Saturday at 1:00 p.m. for Rock n' Roll at Rudd.
• The Phoenix will then head back on the road against East Carolina Carolina on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. in Greenville, N.C.