ELON N.C. – The Elon's University women's lacrosse team clinched a CAA Tournament berth on Saturday with a 16-8 rout over the Towson Tigers. The first half saw evenly matched play, with no side looking to give way, but the Phoenix truly soared in the second half.
Redshirt sophomore attacker Ana Lee Vandiver stole the show with her five-goal performance. Another Phoenix who excelled was none other than senior Sammy Fisher. She tallied six points, scoring four goals and assisting on two. For these two it was about staying on schedule and being locked in every second.
"What we wanted to do today was play a full 60 minutes, and I think we were able to do that," Vandiver said. "Going into halftime, we just needed to hold ourselves accountable with the small things. Whether it was talking, spacing or moving the ball around quicker. Most of our goals were assisted, which showed we were able to thrive off of each other's successes."
The message was preached by the team, but more importantly, as Fisher mentioned, by assistant coach Katie Brodsky.
"She always says play with house money," Fisher said. "We needed to have no care in the world for anything else when on that field."
The game was shaping up to be a shootout for the ages at first. Both teams scored four goals in the first quarter and two goals in the second. Fisher scored two quick goals to open the game, but Towson's Milana Zizakovic scored four goals within the span of 12 minutes to end the first quarter.
The Phoenix didn't seem to have an answer for the senior, until the team did. After a quick assist early in the second quarter, Zizakovic didn't log another point.
The halftime break brewed an explosion from the Phoenix, beginning with Vandiver who scored not one, not two, but three of her five goals in the span of a minute and a half to begin the second half. Elon outscored Towson 7-0 in the third quarter which let the team set sail for victory.
"I think it was the momentum that we had going into halftime, and knowing we had to step on the gas pedal a bit more," Vandiver said. "All of my goals were assisted, which shows the support and chemistry we have together, but once we were able to move as a unit, we were able to see those open spots. Towson kept switching between man and zone so we had to acknowledge that our mindset needed to change for each offensive set we had."
Fisher also explained the importance of not changing their tempo regardless of what the scoreboard said.
"It was really important that we never looked at the score once," Fisher said. "It was always 0-0 in that third quarter. Even when we went up, we didn't pay attention to it. It's important that we don't gauge the score when we play."
With the statement win over the Tigers, the Phoenix clinched itself a 2025 CAA Tournament position. In similar, but not identical fashion, to last season the team punched its ticket in a win over the same team. However this year, the team has a different outlook on its future based on the improvement of its past.
"It's definitely different than last year," Fisher said. "It wasn't an overtime win, and we have two more games. We also already know we're going to the tournament. It's nice to have that backbone, but it's also a great motivator. It allows us to recognize that we've gotta keep getting better. The next two games will be great for us to fix things, so that we can be tournament ready."
After today's monumental seasonal achievement, the team welcomed head coach Josh Hexter postgame with an ice bucket shower. It was a hot 80 degree day, so it was definitely refreshing. The team has also expressed how Hexter's leadership has been refreshing and important to them.
"He has a lot of trust in us," Vandiver said. "He really lets us do what we think is best, and I think that speaks volumes. He gives us a guide but he plays to our strengths."
"I think the creativity he brings to it allows us to play our own game," Fisher added. It really has shown on the field for us, and that trust is very important. He never plays the blame game with anyone, and he's always very constructive with how he coaches."
Even though the Phoenix has postseason play guaranteed, there's still more juice to squeeze for the 2025 regular season. Elon will host Queens University of Charlotte on Wednesday, April 23 at 5 p.m. in a rescheduled out-of-conference game from earlier in the season. The Phoenix will wrap up the season Saturday, April 26 at noon in Philadelphia, taking on a fellow postseason foe, the Drexel Dragons. The game will have major implications for both teams' first round matchups for postseason play.
'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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