LOWELL, Mass. – After jumping out to a six-goal lead in the first half, the UMass Lowell women's lacrosse team (3-4) took down Merrimack, 15-8, on Tuesday evening.
 
The River Hawks started strong, with tallies by Kristina Keith (East Kingston, N.H.), Kendyl Finelli (Southborough, Mass.), Jane Dudley (Duxbury, Mass.), Hannah Rose (Framingham, Mass.) and Cameron McKelvin (Westminster, Md.)
 
The Warriors closed out the first half on a 4-2 run, though, scoring four goals in seven minutes. Dudley managed to end the period with her second goal of the game to give the River Hawks some momentum heading into halftime.

Paige MacEachern (Lynnfield, Mass.) and Dudley opened scoring in the second half, but the Warriors answered back with a pair of their own goals. A MacEachern free position goal at 19:38 kept things in control at 11-6 in the River Hawks' favor, and it was followed up by goals by Rose and Keith.
 
The teams traded goals after that, but the River Hawks maintained their lead and ended the game with a seven-point margin for the second game in a row. Dudley, McKelvin and Keith all finished with hat tricks, while Dudley led in total points with five.
 
UMass Lowell held the edge in draw controls (16-9), ground balls (10-4) and shots (40-14). The 40 shots, which came from nine different players, were a season-high for the River Hawks.
 
After tallying a 3-1 record in their four-game homestand, the River Hawks will be back on the road with a trip to Wagner on Sunday, March 10.