SALEM, Va. – Despite the best efforts of Zenna Carson (Blacksburg, Va.), who matched her season high with 16 saves, becoming the fifth Quaker to eclipse 500 saves in a career, as the Guilford College women's lacrosse team was beat by No. 14 Roanoke College, 22-5 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action at Kerr Stadium on Wednesday night.

With the loss, the Quakers drop to 5-6, 2-3 in ODAC play while RC reaches double-digit wins at 10-3, 5-1 against conference competition.

Under duress from the opening draw, Carson faced a season-high 38 shots on frame on the night stopping 16 of them but also allowing 22 goals to fall to 5-6 in goal on the season. The Maroons evenly split time in the cage between Amber Stallings and Kendall Todd. The former got her first start of the season allowing two goals against no saves but still got the win to improve to 1-0. Todd allowed all three shots on target that she faced to find the back of the net in the second half.

The Guilford offense did score five times in the game, the second time they have reached that mark across their last five meetings against the perennial powerhouse Maroons. Maggie Hartnett (Hebron, Maine) scored two goals with an assist while also causing two turnovers and scooping two groundballs. Kylie Horn (Fairfax, Va.), Maggie Bryson (Kernersville, N.C.), and Sammy Keene (Greensboro, N.C.) also scored once each for GC. Sarah Brisson, Tiernan Connor, Grace Koutouzis, and Kate Loughran each accumulated five points with various goal and assist combinations but Libby Bowman outdid them all with a season-high five assists to go with a goal. Sophia Chickering pilled up 17 draw controls in the win.

The Maroons jumped on the board early and often in this one, requiring just 62 seconds to open the scoring with Loughran taking a pass from Bowman for the opening score. Loughran than was on the passing side of a Sydney Harrison score. Roanoke's third goal in the game's first three minutes by Koutouzis and Loughran's second tally early made it 4-0 with less than five minutes of game time elapsed. Hartnett halted the run, netting a goal on the man-advantage off an Emma Garland (Hampstead, N.C.) set-up as the Quaker defense did find its footing in the quarter's final ten minutes, slowing the Roanoke scoring pace. Tracey Benzing scored one and Loughran recorded her third of the frame bringing the score to 6-1 through the first quarter of play.

The hosts got another scoring burst beginning at the 12:14 mark of the second with Maddie McDonald finding paydirt ahead of Koutouzis taking advantage of a free position chance with her second. Roanoke added two more while on the man-disadvantage as Bowman assisted Connor then scored herself of a helper by Koutouzis, with all four of those scores occurring within roughly two-and-a-half minutes. Out of a timeout, Grace Holmes (Chestertown, Md.) secured the draw for GC and they took advantage with Horn scoring an unassisted goal. 60 seconds later, Koutouzis scored her third goal off Bowman's fourth assist. Roanoke got the game into running clock with 4:33 remaining in the half with Brisson scoring off a Connor dish. Connor also assisted on the Maroons' final two tallies of the quarter, scored by Chickering and Zoe Blair as they extended their advantage to 14-2 at the break.

Roanoke outshot Guilford 29-3 in the first half of play, but the Quakers' true Achilles heel was on the clear, where they were successful on just 6-of-13 attempts, with many of their 14 turnovers occurring during those plays.

With the game in hand, the Maroons eased up some in the second half. Hartnett scored her second goal just under six minutes in before Koutouzis' fourth goal sparked six unanswered for RC spanning the remainder of the third and the first six minutes of the fourth. Guilford did get two in a row with Hartnett assisting Bryson then Keene scoring unassisted before the hosts closed the scoring with two more tallies bringing the final score to 22-5.

The Quakers remain on the road next, making the trip to Bridgewater College to battle the Eagles on Saturday evening, April 13^th. First draw is set for 4:30 PM.  

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