Goucher Women's Lacrosse Falls In Season Finale At Drew

BALTIMORE, Md. – The Goucher women's lacrosse team wrapped up its 2019 campaign with a loss at Drew University in Landmark Conference action on Saturday.

Shannon Stull (Westminster, Md./Francis Scott Key) paced the Gophers with two goals while Aubrie DiBenedetto (Bristow, Va./Patriot) also found the twine in season finale.

Stull got the scoring started with an unassisted tally at 27:49 for a 1-0 lead. The junior also found the twine with 14:43 left in the first half while DeBenedetto twinkled the twine with 16:06 remaining in the second half.

Stull finished her junior campaign with 52 goals and 13 assists for 65 points to lead the team and rank sixth in goals and eighth in points in the circuit. She scored in 14 of the 16 matches this season and scored two or more tallies 13 times, registered a hat trick 10 times and posted five or more scores three times including a career-high nine markers against Randolph on March. 1. It was also a big milestone season for Stull, who reached 100 career points against Gwynedd Mercy on March 16, 100 goals against Moravian seven days later and 100 draws against Susquehanna on April 13.

Stull will go into her final season as a Gopher in 2020 with a chance to join some of the program's greatest players on the all-time lists after recording 116 goals and 14 assists for 130 points along with 113 draw controls.

DiBenedetto finished her first season in Baltimore with seven goals. She scored in five of the seven games she played including five of her last six matches. DiBenedetto had a career-high three tallies against Juniata on Tuesday.

The match also marked the end of the collegiate careers for seniors Maddie Hernandez (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington), Danielle Nixon (East Brunswick, N.J./East Brunswick) and Jordan Tice (Batavia, Ill./Batavia). The trio started on Saturday and Hernandez and Tice each recorded a caused turnovers while Tice had two shots on the afternoon.

Tice finished her career with 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points along with 49 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers in50 games including 29 starts in her collegiate career. Nixon finishes her career with 44 ground balls, 18 caused turnovers, two goals and two assists in 51 career games including 34 starts. Hernandez ends her time as a Gopher with 29 ground balls and 34 caused turnovers along with a goal and three assists in 48 games including 32 starts.

While it is sad to say goodbye to the seniors, the future is bright for the team. In addition to Stull, Alyssa Long (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) had a career season with 24 goals and 12 assists for 36 points and she will go into her final campaign needing six draw controls for 100 for her career along with 54 goals and 20 assists for 74 points.

Freshman Julia Gazzola (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) did not play, but finished her freshman campaign with a single-season record 96 draw controls and also led the team with 39 ground balls and 25 caused turnovers while she ranked second on the team to Stull with 41 goals and 14 assists for 55 points. Fellow freshman Emily Flinn (Ashland, Va./Patrick Henry) (25 goals and 22 assists and sophomore Camryn Agostino (South Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) (23 goals and 17 assists) are also scheduled to return to give the Gophers its Top-5 scorers returning next season.

Abbie McHerron (Burnt Hills, N.Y./Burnt Hills) made seven saves in the first 30 minutes of the game while Gillian Sickler (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) turned away four shots in the second half.

Drew outscored the Gophers 14-2 in the opening frame and 5-1 in the second half to earn the 19-3 win.

Goucher finished the season with a non-losing record for the first time since the 2016 season.