Hempstead, NY - Junior Taylor Mennella had a game she will never forget as the Smithtown, New York native tallied an incredible nine points on six goals and three assists to lead the Hofstra women's lacrosse team to a resounding 18-12 victory over Elon on Saturday afternoon at James M. Shuart Stadium. The win clinched a berth in the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association Championship for the Pride, as Hofstra will face Drexel on Friday in the semifinals. 

Prior to the game, Hofstra honored its 11 seniors during a pre-game ceremony. Those recognized this afternoon included graduate students Arianna Esposito, Katie Whelan, and Shannon Boyle and seniors Jess Smith, Erin Demek, Jackie Gatti, Erin Tierney, Camryn Faith, Amanda Guerra, Anna Kaufmann, and Grace Langella. 

The nine points were the most for a member of the Pride since Alyssa Parrella had 10 points (10 goals) against Villanova on March 13, 2021. 

The win was Hofstra's second straight and improved the Pride's record to 9-7 overall and 3-3 in conference action. Elon saw its season come to an end with a record of 5-11 and 1-5 in CAA play. 

An early 2-0 deficit was quickly erased by Hofstra as senior Grace Langella started a 5-0 scoring run that culminated with a tally from Mennella with 7:55 left in the opening quarter. The Pride would lead 6-3 after 15 minutes of play as graduate student Katie Whelan pushed the lead back to three with her first of the game with 4:19 left. 

The Pride would make it a 4-0 run in total spanning the two quarters as Hofstra scored three goals in the first 11 minutes of the second stanza to take a commanding 9-3 advantage following a free-position goal from Whelan with 4:33 showing on the clock. 

After taking a four-goal halftime lead, Hofstra pushed it to six (12-6) with goals from Whelan and sophomore Kerry Walser to open the third quarter. The Pride was then able to take a five-goal lead into the final quarter as Mennella added another with 19 seconds left in the period. 

The teams combined for nine fourth quarter goals with the Pride never seriously challenged on their way to the six-goal victory. Elon got as close as four on a pair of occasions in the period, but Walser and Mennella closed the scoring in the game to account for the final margin. 

Whelan finished with four points on three goals and an assist, while Langella also tallied a hat trick for the Pride. Graduate student Shannon Boyle had nine draw controls, two ground balls, and a caused turnover. Walser had four points on two goals and two assists, along with a career-high five draw controls. Senior Jess Smith had four saves and three ground balls for the Pride. 

Gillian Curran tallied four points on two goals and two assists along with six draw controls for Elon. Paige Brown had nine saves for the Phoenix. 

The CAA Championship will be played at the Vidas Athletic Complex on the campus of Drexel University. Hofstra and Drexel will face each other in the semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m. with Towson and Delaware meeting in the other semifinal at 4 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday at 12 p.m. All three games of the CAA Championship will air on the Lax Sports Network. 

NOTES
- Hofstra is 3-3 all-time against Elon. Today was the first meeting since a 10-6 Pride win over the Phoenix in 2019. 
- With her two ground balls in the game, Boyle now has 121 in her career to move into 10th place all-time in program history. She passed Alyssa Ruszkowski (2006-09) and Kimberly Hillier (2004-07), who both had 120 in their careers. 
- Mennella's previous career-highs were four goals (most recently at Delaware on 4/6/22), three assists (versus Vanderbilt on 3/20/22), and four points (most recently at Delaware on 4/6/22). 
- It was the seventh career hat trick (sixth this season) for Mennella, the 19th career hat trick (seventh this season) for Whelan, and fifth career hat trick (first this season) for Langella.