Leite Career-High 8 Goals Leads Crusaders Past N.C. Wesleyan in 18-10 Win
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas women's lacrosse team defeated North Carolina Wesleyan College, 18-10, on Sunday afternoon behind the help of a career-high eight goals from Lexi Leite (Houston, Texas). The Crusaders (3-4) snapped a four-game losing streak and picked up their third victory at home this spring.
Dallas used a 5-0 run to push out to a 7-2 advantage in the first half, but the Bishops (0-3) countered with three of the last four goals before intermission to make it a three-goal deficit. The guests carried that momentum into the first five minutes of the second half, as Grace Look netted goals to make it an 8-7 game.
Emily Pauletti (Dallas, Texas) got UD on the board at the 24:41 mark, and then Leite added a quick goal seconds later after Mason Cosgrove (Las Cruces, N.M) picked up one of her season-high six draw controls.
Ali Cucinotta cut the deficit to 10-8 with a free position goal at 23:54.
Leite went on a tear by tallying the next trio of goals over the next four minutes. Her last goal in that sequence was assisted by Erika Keever (Fort Worth, Texas), who notched the other hat trick for Dallas on the game with three goals. Two of her goals occurred during the UD outburst with her final scoring play capping the 7-0 swing. Dalayna Marji (Montrose, Calif.) and Camryn Dougherty (Drayden, Md.) also were involved on the big surge to put the game out of reach.
Leite secured her personal-best goals total in a match on the final one by Dallas to finish a 10-5 second half. She added 21 shots with 18 on goal to go with a pair of ground balls and caused turnovers. Her previous high in a game was against Carroll University on March 16, 2017.
Keever attempted 12 shots with eight on cage and picked up two draw controls. Alex Parkey (Henrietta, Texas) won five draw controls to follow Cosgrove. Ella Pedrozo (Austin, Texas) picked up a team-high five ground balls.
Parkey and Aneliz Rios (San Diego, Calif.) also tallied goals in the victory, as Dallas posted 49 shots and 39 on cage. The home team was also 30-of-35 on successful clears, while N.C. Wesleyan went 23-of-30. The Crusaders were forced into fewer turnovers (23-16) but the Bishops had more draw controls (16-14).
Lizz Winkler (St. Charles, Ill.) collected nine saves and faced 19 shots in 60 minutes. The goalie also had three ground balls.
Her counterpart, Millenia Crespo notched 21 saves against 39 shots faced and picked up a game-high nine ground balls.
Look paced the offense with six goals, while Cucinotta contributed three.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Leite had a career-high 8 goals and had the difference in the margin for #UDallasWLAX's home win on Sunday! She also rattled off three straight goals that sparked the final run to give a seven-point scoring swing!#WeAreUD #d3lax pic.twitter.com/52hItTDEab
— UDallas Athletics (@UDallasSports) March 4, 2019
UP NEXT
Dallas is off for a week and a half before hosting Cornell College (IA) on Wednesday, March 13. The match is slated to begin at 3 p.m.