ELON – After a victory at Queens on Wednesday, the Elon women's lacrosse team handled business in its home opener Saturday against the Old Dominion Monarchs. With a trio of hat tricks, the Phoenix soared to an 11-6 win. Veteran attackers
Anna Hackett and
Ana Lee Vandiver helped lead the offensive charge.
For Hackett, the home opener meant a little bit more. The redshirt junior missed the entirety of the 2025 season due to injury. Hackett's last game at Rudd Field was against William & Mary on April 14, 2024, meaning it has been 22 months since she took the field at home.
In her return to Rudd, Hackett scored three goals on four shots. Many of Elon's key offensive contributors from a season ago graduated, so seeing Hackett return to form was a welcome sight for the Phoenix. The mental aspect of returning after an extended period of time can be a bit jarring for some, but for Hackett, she was grateful for those around her who supported her.
"It feels really good," Hackett said. "It took a lot of hours and a lot of hard work to come back, but my teammates helped me push myself, and so it's all thanks to them."
Vandiver earned a hat trick alongside Hackett. The redshirt junior also tallied two assists in the game totaling five points. Additionally, Vandiver began to take the draw controls, winning five of them after becoming Elon's primary draw taker in the second half.
"As a draw unit you always have to be ready to change things up, " Vandiver said. "Especially when you're taking draws against really good opponents, you kind of have to work to your strengths. It's normal for drawtakers to switch things up. I've taken a lot of advice and insight from MJ, Kerry [Nease] and Brods [Katie Brodsky], and it was something we just wanted to try. If it worked, it worked. Communicating with the circle girls is a big deal, and the reps we get in practice was a big part of that happening today".
Draw controls aren't completely new to Vandiver. While MJ Santa Barbara has led the team by a wide margin in the previous two seasons, Vandiver was fourth on the team in that category.
While the upperclassmen have been leading the squad, the Phoenix has seen a significant impact from the team's underclassmen. Coming off of a 10-goal freshman campaign, sophomore attacker Danielle Swietoniowski has made her impact early. In addition to Vandiver and Hackett's hat tricks on Saturday, Swietoniowski had three goals of her own.
Freshman attacker Lizzie Scalzo also racked up five goals in her collegiate debut on Wednesday, and assisted on two goals Saturday. Through two games she has 11 shots, nine of those being on goal. Scalzo has exploded onto the scene, and has made her mark early. As a whole, Vandiver said she and the other upperclassmen have been very impressed with this younger class.
"They came in, and got to work, " Vandiver said. "They were ready. When you talk to them, you don't think they're sophomores, you don't think they're eighteen, nineteen years old. They take on a lot of responsibility and own it very well. Same thing for Lizzie, she has a lot of composure. They put in a lot of work in the offseason individually so that they're ready for the pressure when the season comes around."
Despite finishing above .500 for each of the previous two seasons, starting 2-0 is something the Phoenix hasn't done since 2021. Both Hackett and Vandiver believe the team's biggest strengths are accountability and chemistry with each other.
"I think it's helped that we're very close," Hackett said. "For us, thirty eight of your best friends are standing right next to you, pushing you to be your best every single day, and I think that's what allowed us to be so strong so far."
"We also get a lot of insight from each other, " Vandiver added. "I always ask Jessie [Penner] or Reagan [Kuehn] on defense, 'What am I doing that's making it easier to defend me," and vice versa. We're very honest with each other and we hold each other accountable. Today was a great game, but we know there are lots of things we can work on. We aren't peaking, and we don't want to peak yet. We all know we can be so much better, so that drive to be the best versions of ourselves is a trait we all share and it allows us to be a successful team."
The Phoenix will have a week to rest as next Saturday, February 21, the team travels to Greenville to face the East Carolina Pirates. The Phoenix will look to move to 3-0, a feat that has only been accomplished three times in program history.
'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 Sydney Spencer at sspencer9@elon.edu.
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