LOWELL, Mass. – A balanced scoring effort on Saturday afternoon led to the River Hawks' second straight win as the UMass Lowell women's lacrosse team (2-4) earned a 15-8 victory against Iona at Wicked Blue Field. The River Hawks scored 15 goals for the second game in a row, as well.
 
"I think we did enough good things that we were able to build a really, really good lead at points, and that afforded us the luxury of being able to make some crucial mistakes that I think we just need to clean up a little bit," said Head Coach Carissa Medeiros.
 
In the first half, Kendyl Finelli (Southborough, Mass.) scored on a free position attempt at 28:39, followed by a goal from Kristina Keith (East Kingston, N.H.) at 24:25. Iona responded with a goal right off the draw control to tighten the race just nine seconds later.
 
Cameron McKelvin (Westminster, Md.), Jane Dudley (Duxbury, Mass.) and Paige MacEachern (Lynnfield, Mass.) chipped in goals in the ensuing 10 minutes. Samantha Blair (West Islip, N.Y.) added one at 12:43 to take a four-goal lead for the River Hawks. McKelvin added her second of the game at 9:31 with an assist from Hannah Rose (Framingham, Mass.).
 
Keith scored her second goal of the game at 2:58 in the first half after Hana Caster (North Attleboro, Mass.) sped ahead on a fast break, faked out a defender, and flipped a pass to Keith to score. Keith then took on the role of facilitator to tally an assist on another Blair goal at 1:03. For the second-straight game, the River Hawks went into halftime with a lead, this time ahead by seven.
 
Iona opened up scoring in the second half, but MacEachern struck back with her second of the game to return to the seven-goal lead. Dudley added another at 21:47 with an impressive unassisted, diving goal.
 
The Gaels tightened things up with three straight goals in a two-minute span, but the River Hawks rattled off four straight goals, starting with Rebecca Idson (East Atlantic Beach, N.Y.) at 16:09. MacEachern, Caster and Finelli all tallied goals during that span. Iona scored two goals to close out the game, but the deficit was too high, and the River Hawks earned the 15-8 victory.
 
Renee Gonzalez (Long Valley, N.J.) had a strong showing with 13 saves and a .619 save percentage, including an 18-minute span without allowing a goal.
 
Caster and Kelly Moran (Exeter, N.H.) led the way in ground balls with four and three, respectively. Nine different players had at least one caused turnover, and nine players had at least one point.
 
Next week, the River Hawks play their final game at home before heading on the road for the next two games. They face Merrimack at Wicked Blue Field on Tuesday, March 5 at 4 p.m.