LOWELL, Mass. – Freshman Abby McLaughlin (Walpole, Mass.) made a splash in her collegiate debut, notching four goals to propel the River Hawks past Central Connecticut, 14-7, in their first game of the season.
 
"Always happy to pick up a win," stated head coach Lisa Miller. "I thought we were nervous coming out, but the execution just got better as the game went on. The defense started to put the ball on the ground and the offense knocked down 44 shots, which is a good sign for the future. We're just going to keep building from here."
 
The first half opened with an attack from the Blue Devils, scoring seven minutes into the contest off a Morgan Sinton shot, but the River Hawks quickly responded, thanks to the help of captain, Hannah Rose (Framingham, Mass.) to equalize the score, 1-1.
 
After another CCSU goal by Sinton, sophomore Samantha Blair (West Islip, N.Y.), scored with 12:19 to go, equalizing the score once again for the River Hawks. Sinton added her third goal of the day just 29 seconds later to regain the lead.
 
A man-up, McLaughlin scored her first of the game at 17:58, but a CCSU goal two minutes later would once again give the visitors a one-point lead.
 
A River Hawk foul would reverse the roles less than a minute later, putting the home team a man down, but a pass from freshman Natalie Choate (Spencerport, N.Y.) from behind the net would give McLaughlin an open lane for her second goal of the contest, tying the game 4-4.
 
Senior captain Hana Caster (North Attleboro, Mass.) would pick up her first goal of the season at 25:01, but the Blue Devils managed to respond shortly after to equalize the score once again, 5-5. Another balanced attack coming from the freshman class gave Grace Hansen (Stamford, Conn.) her first collegiate goal with 30 seconds remaining, giving the River Hawks a 6-5 lead heading into the second.
 
CCSU opened up scoring in the second half, but a free position opportunity would give senior captain Cameron McKelvin (Westminster, Md.) her first of the season three minutes into the second. Unfortunately, another CCSU goal would shortly follow, equalizing the score for the seventh time, 7-7.
 
The River Hawks tightened things up, rattling off seven straight goals over the remaining minutes, starting with Casters second of the day at 35:19. McKelvin, McLaughlin, Blair and freshman Izzy Liquori (Agawam, Mass.) all tallied goals during that span, to hold the visitors to a scoreless 24 minutes to earn the 14-7 victory.
 
Up next the River Hawks will head out for their first road game of the season when they battle Holy Cross on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.