Branca, DelColle’s 16 points leads Morrisville State sticks past Penn State Abington 24-7  

Branca, DelColle’s 16 points leads Morrisville State sticks past Penn State Abington 24-7  

 

MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – Senior's Gianna Branca (Camillus, N.Y.) and Brianna DelColle (Huntington, N.Y.) combined for 16 points Friday afternoon as host Morrisville State College women's lacrosse handed Penn St. Abington a 24-7 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) loss on Drake Field in Morrisville.

With the win, Morrisville State improves their conference record to 7-1 as they head into the season finale against Bryn Athyn College tomorrow, 9-7 overall. Abington drops to 2-11, 2-6 in NEAC play.

Branca paced all scorers with 11 total points, netting seven goals and adding four assists, six points of which came in the opening half of play. Branca collected her 100th point of the season just over eight minutes in, netting the free position tally.

DelColle registered a collegiate high five scores, adding a ground ball and caused turnover to her tallies on the day, while teammate Jillian Hughes (Brookfield, N.Y.) added a hat trick with her three scores.

Melissa Lucciola (Monroe, N.Y.) also posted the hat trick with three goals, while Courtney Cavellier (Rodman, N.Y.), Makenzi Santini (Fairport, N.Y.) and Chelsea McNeal (Ithaca, N.Y.) rounded out Mustang scoring with two goals apiece.

Celia Abbott (Shortsville, N.Y.) assisted four.

Marissa Woodard (Unadilla, N.Y.) recorded four saves in the win, appearing in the first half, before Kallie George (Tully, N.Y.) finished out the contest with three stops in the second half of action.

Morrisville State dominated the Nittany Lions in the center circle, winning 20 draws, nine of which were snagged out of the air by Cavellier, who also picked up a team high five ground balls.

The Mustangs went back-and-forth with the visitors for the opening nine minutes, before two straight tallies a mere 10 seconds apart gave the hosts the two goal advantage and kicked off a 10-2 run over the remainder of the half to hold the 15-5 lead at the break.

The deficit proved too much to overcome for Abington to pull any closer, as Morrisville State outscored the Nittany Lions 9-2 in the second half of play.

Morrisville State returns to the field tomorrow, hosting Bryn Athyn College in the regular season finale. The opening draw is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Drake Field in Morrisville.

Morrisville State College's curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs.

The college was ranked among the Best Regional Colleges in the North by U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges 2018 issue and was also recognized in the Top Public Schools, Regional Colleges North in the 2018 Best Colleges rankings. For more information about Morrisville State College, visit www.morrisville.edu.

 

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