ELMHURST, Ill. - Meghan Keyes, Nikki Togami and Phoebe LeRoy combined for 12 goals while leading the Elmhurst women's lacrosse team to the program's first win in a 14-5 victory over St. Mary's College (Ind.).
 

After scoring no more than three goals in its first four contests, Elmhurst (1-4) exploded against St. Mary's tallying eight goals in the opening half and tacking on six scores in the second half.

St. Mary's (2-3) scored the game's first two goals as Clare Theisen tallied back-to-back scores to put the Belles up by two with 20:50 remaining in the opening half.

It was all Elmhurst for the next 20 minutes as the Bluejays closed the half by ripping off eight consecutive goals. Keyes scored first off a feed from Togami to slice St. Mary's lead in half. LeRoy evened the score at 2-2 with a goal just 1:15 later.

After 11 scoreless minutes, Elmhurst's offense finished the half with a six-goal outburst over the final 7:31. LeRoy put Elmhurst in front for good with her second goal of the day with 7:31 left. Togami added back-to-back goals from free position to give the Bluejays a 5-2 cushion with just over six minutes remaining. All three players added goals before the half to stake Elmhurst to a six-goal lead at the half.

St. Mary's scored the first goal of the second half to cut the Bluejays' lead down to five, but four straight goals from Elmhurst put the Bluejays in front 12-3. Keyes scored a pair of goals while LeRoy and Megan Lees also found the back of the net in the Bluejays' four-goal spurt.,

Aja Brown and Togami scored the final two goals for Elmhurst, sandwiched around a pair of St. Mary's goals from Theisen, to make the final score 14-5 in favor of the Bluejays.

Elmhurst outshot St. Mary's 29-23 and put 18 shots on goal in the victory. The Bluejays were successful on 14-of-19 clearing attempts while St. Mary's finished only 10-of-18 clears.,

Keyes and Togami each finished with six points in the victory. Keyes scored a team-leading five goals while also tallying an assist. Togami scored four times and added a pair of assists in the win. LeRoy also netted a hat trick for the Bluejays, scoring three times. Brown finished with a goal and a team-best six ground balls.,

Grace Knoebel earned her first collegiate win in goal, allowing a season-low five goals while recording 12 saves in the victory.

Theisen provided almost all of St. Mary's scoring punch, accounting for four of the team's five goals. Shannon Weyer took the loss in net, allowing 14 goals while recording nine saves.

Elmhurst will look for its second-straight victory on Tuesday, March 24, when the team travels to Cornell College.,