Kimberly Collins and Emily Burton have been a dynamic one-two punch for the AU women’s lacrosse team this season. The storyline played out again Saturday at Bucknell University.
Collins and Burton each tallied four goals, and the Eagles cruised to a 22-9 victory over the Bison March 24 in Lewisburg, Pa.
Burton now has 32 goals on the season after recording 18 a season ago and is developing into AU’s top offensive threat. Collins is second on the team with 27 and is quickly approaching her mark of 30 goals from last season.
The 22 goals are the most this season for the Eagles (6-4, 2-1 PL), and marks the first time they’ve surrendered less than 10 scores in nearly a month.
While Collins and Burton shined on offense, Emily Stankiewicz and Laura Dawson led the defense.
Stankiewicz caused four turnovers on the afternoon while picking up one ground ball. Dawson scooped up five ground balls and caused two turnovers.
Kaska Komosinski recorded six saves in over 52 minutes of action to pick up the win in goal for the Eagles, while Mia Rosen played the remaining seven-plus minutes.
AU’s total control of the game was reflected in the stat book. The Eagles held an edge in shots (36-24), ground balls (15-10), draw controls (18-15) and turnovers (Bucknell committed 18 to AU’s eight).
The lone bright spots for the Bison (3-8, 0-3 PL) were Arriana Sajjad and Molly Ford. Sajjad recorded a game-high five goals, while Ford registered four assists.
It was a back-and-forth contest to start, with both teams exchanging goals for the first 12 minutes of play. But with the score knotted at 3-3, AU started to pull away.
The Eagles closed the first half on an 8-1 run, allowing them to take an 11-4 lead into halftime. During the spurt Collins, Burton and Lauren Schoenberger found the back of the net twice, while Emily Maher and Paige Lin added goals as well.
Sajjad tried to help the Bison fight their way back into the game with three goals early in the second half, but the Eagles were just too strong.
Leading 14-8 with 15 minutes left to play, AU scored five straight goals and the rout was on. During the stretch that saw the Eagle lead grow to 19-8, Nicole Lombardo scored her first goal of the season and Jamie Silverman picked up her second and third goals of the year.
Late scores from Maher, Collins and Silverman accounted for the 22-9 final.
The victory puts the Eagles in a three-way tie for second place midway through the Patriot League schedule. AU sits tied with Lehigh University and Colgate University, although the Eagles hold the tiebreaker over Colgate after their 19-18 win earlier in the season.
Following a March 27 non-conference clash at Georgetown University, the Eagles will host Lehigh at Jacobs Field March 31.
