Greenville, N.C. – Freshman MJ Santa Barbara led a record-breaking night in the draw circle and Elon got 12 combined goals from Sammy Fisher, Cierra Hopson and Anna Hackett as the Phoenix lacrosse team went on the road and defeated East Carolina 13-10 Wednesday evening. Elon improves to 4-2 with the win and East Carolina falls to 3-2.
 
Elon held a 22-5 advantage in the draw circle behind the stout work of MJ Santa Barbara. The +17 difference was the largest in program history and Santa Barbara grabbed 10 draws on her own.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first half swung back-and-forth before the two teams went into the break tied at 6-6.
• ECU scored the first two goals but Sammy Fisher and Cierra Hopson rattled off four straight to give Elon a 4-2 lead.
• ECU closed the gap to 4-3 before the end of the first and then scored the first two goals of the second to go ahead 5-4.
• Fisher completed her hat trick to tie the score at 5-5 but the Pirates took their final lead of the game on a goal with 4:04 remaining in the opening half.
• Hopson followed it up by getting her hat trick and tying the score at the half.
• Elon took over midway through the third quarter and Hopson and Anna Hackett score back-to-back to make it 8-6. After an ECU goal, Elon scored three straight for its biggest lead of the night.
• Bridget Kelly made it 9-7 and then Hackett recorded her second goal of the day just over a minute later. Fisher then got her fourth goal of the evening for the 11-7 advantage.
• ECU tried to rally and the Pirates scored three straight to make it 11-10 midway through the fourth. However, Fisher and Hackett scored less than a minute apart and the Phoenix ran out the clock on East Carolina.

 
NOTES AND STATS

• As mentioned above, Elon's +17 advantage in the draw circle was the most lopsided in program history. The 22 draw controls were tied for the third-most in a game in school history and the five draw controls allowed were tied for the second fewest.
• Sammy Fisher ended with five goals and two assists for seven points. The five goals and seven points were both career-highs for the junior from Parkland, Fla., as were her nine shots on the night.
• Cierra Hopson tied a season-high with four goals and Elon is now 2-0 in 2024 when she scores four and 3-0 when she has at least three points.
• Anna Hackett had her second hat trick of 2024 with three goals, adding an assist as well.
• Caitlin Walsh made 10 saves and had a season-best 50 percent save percentage in goal.
• Hackett, Jessie Penner and Maddie Engelkraut each had two ground balls.
• Kailee Follette had a team-best two caused turnovers, her third straight game with two.
• Freshman Reagan Kuehn added a caused turnover, extending her career-opening six-game streak with at least one caused turnover.
• MJ Santa Barbara entered the evening ranked fifth in the country with 9.2 draw controls per game. She had 10 on the night, giving her 56 on the year, a new Elon freshman record. She currently ranks fifth in program history in a single-season, regardless of class.
• Mikaela Buoscio added a career-best eight draw controls in the game.
• Hackett was 2-for-2 on free position shots and is now 7-of-11 for the year (63.6 percent). A year ago, Hackett converted 62.5 percent of her free position shots (10-of-16) to rank No. 15 nationally.
• Elon entered the game ranked No. 9 nationally in draw controls with a .628 win percentage. After the 22-5 advantage Wednesday night, Elon now holds a .663 draw control win percentage, fourth in the country.
• Elon outshot East Carolina 31-27 and 21-20 on goal.
• The Phoenix was 8-of-8 on clear attempts, the team's second straight perfect game on clears.
• With the win, Elon improves to 4-2 on the season, equaling the team's win total from a year ago.
• Elon has also evened up the all-time series with ECU at 1-1. The Pirates recorded a 16-11 win a year ago in Elon.

 
UP NEXT

• Elon has a week off before playing at 4-1 Virginia Tech on Wednesday, March 6 at 1:00 p.m.
• The Phoenix will return home on Wednesday, March 13 to host 1-2 High Point at 5:00 p.m.