Elon, N.C. – To start the 2025 campaign, the Elon University lacrosse team's three games – a win against VCU and losses to Duke and Virginia Tech – have been decided, on average, by nearly 11 goals each. Tuesday night's clash with East Carolina brought the season's first hotly contested matchup, and the Phoenix passed with flying colors.
After jumping out to an early 2-1 lead, Elon found itself on its heels as ECU responded with three straight goals. The Phoenix were struggling and needed a burst of energy…literally.
The tides completely shifted with the play of freshman attacker
Danielle Swietoniowski. In back-to-back plays that mirrored each other almost perfectly, Swietoniowski blew past her defender and finished on the doorstep. The two scores were separated by only 30 seconds, and in mere moments, the game was knotted up.
In the waning minutes of the first half, with the matchup still tightly contested, the Phoenix reached deep into the bag of party tricks.
After a missed shot by Swietoniowski, all eyes – defense, goalie, cameras and fans alike – were on senior midfielder
Sammy Fisher who expertly acted like she picked up the ball to restart the play. What no one else realized was redshirt sophomore attacker
Ana Lee Vandiver quickly restarted on the opposite side and snuck in the score before anyone had time to react.
"Creds to
Katie Brodsky," Vandiver said. "She did that play a little at ASU in her college days. She implemented that as soon as she came on the scene in January."
"It was really fun," Vandiver added. "It was fun that it worked out and it was a good memory for this game."
With the wind in its sails, the Phoenix took over. Elon allowed only two Pirate goals for the rest of the night, with only one in the entire second half. The defense wreaked havoc, led by junior defender
Jessie Penner's four caused turnovers and junior goalie
Caitlin Walsh's eight saves with five coming in the third quarter.
"Credit the defense for stepping up," Vandiver said. "Walshy had some amazing saves and the defense really put a stop for those 15 minutes."
For the second game in a row, Elon's offense featured six different players with two or more goals. Relying on speed, off-ball movement and isolation, each of the Phoenix's goals were unassisted.
"What we were mainly focused on is just playing offense and not worrying about the score, which is something that we've been striving for," Vandiver said. "I think today we were able to apply that as a seven-man offense."
"A big thing that we try to focus on as a team is trust and trust in each other and in our coaches," Swietoniowski added. "I think that really showed today on the field because we went out there and gave it 100 percent."
Swietoniowski has emerged as a key contributor through her first handful of outings with the maroon and gold. In her last two games, she has strung together four goals and an assist.
"It's super exciting," Swietoniowski said. "I've been waiting to start my college career here at Elon, but honestly, the win's everything for us. Knowing we had to go out there and step it up, it didn't matter who scored those goals, it just mattered that we got them on the board. I think that really helped shift the momentum for the team as a whole to go out there and win the game today."
Vandiver credited the team's resurgence to a reevaluation after back-to-back losses to ACC opponents to open the season.
"I think shifting from Virginia Tech, watching that film was definitely a struggle," Vandiver said. "Seeing how we weren't really playing together, there wasn't a lot of ball movement."
"I think we went in with the mindset [against ECU] of moving the ball and sharing it," Vandiver added. "No one's worrying about who's scoring and who's not. We just want to get a point on the board and that's what we focused on."
Over its last two games, the Phoenix have scored nearly 30 goals while shutting out opponents in the fourth quarter.
"The spacing, the ball movement, the last two games have improved immensely," Swietoniowski said. "And like I said earlier, the trust. We all just love and trust each other so much and that definitely shows out on the field."
Elon's next challenge is its final home game before conference play, as the Phoenix will play host to No. 17 Notre Dame (2-2) on March 2 at 11 a.m.
'Rising Phoenix' is a student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on X (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Chase Strawser at cstrawser@elon.edu.
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