Williamsburg, KY  – Senior midfielder Samantha Tullar and junior attacker Jaclyn Berry netted six goals apiece, while senior goalie Emily Crump tied her season-high with 17 saves as the second-ranked UC women's lacrosse team avenged their 2019 NAIA semifinal loss to second-ranked Benedctine 16-11 Tuesday night at the UC Lacrosse Complex.  With the win, the Patriots improve to 8-0 on the season making it the second time in program history that UC started a season at least 8-0, while the Ravens move to 4-2.

Tullar finished with six goals, three assists and nine points in the win, while Bella Ricchiazzi notched a hat trick and added an assists to notch four points. Katie Brewer dished out a pair of assists in the win.  Defensively, Crump made 17 saves for the second consecutive game, while Trinity Brown forced four turnovers and scooped six ground balls in the win.



Cumberlands got the scoring early as Tullar dodged and scored the first goal of contest 19 seconds into the game.  Emily Heim added a free position goal, before back-to-back goals from Benedictine tied the score at 2-2 with 27:09 remaining.  Ricchiazzi converted a pair of goals as part of a 3-0 run to put the Patriots in front 5-2, nine minutes into the first half.  Benedictine looked to cut into the lead, however, Crump made six saves over a seven minute span, including stopping three free position attempts, to keep Cumberlands in front 5-3. Tullar added a goal before connecting with Jaclyn Berry for a quick score to give the Patriots a 7-3 lead at the 9:51 mark. Berry found the back of the cage twice with the second one coming in transition as Brown scooped the ground ball passed it forward to Brewer, who found Berry dodging towards the crease for a goal to give the Patriots a 9-4 lead at halftime.

Benedictine came out of the break strong, scoring three of the first four goals of the second half.  Cumberlands responded as Tullar found Berry in front of the cage for a shot just inside the pipe to give UC an 11-7 edge.  The Ravens added a pair of goals, however, Tullar led the Patriots response with a pair of goals of her own extending the lead to 13-9 with 12:24 remaining. The Ravens, who has score 50 second half goals this season, were held in check by the tenacious UC defense led by Crump who made made four saves in a four-minute span to keep the lead at 13-9. Cumberlands added three unanswered goals to take a 16-9 lead, before the Ravens answered twice in the closing minutes for the 16-11 final.

It marks the second time in program history that UC has defeated a team ranked second in the NAIA top 10 poll and the first since February 16, 2018 when they defeated Lawrence Tech 15-10. The Patriots have also extended their home win streak to 19 straight games and improved to 4-0 against teams that were either ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top 10 poll this season. 

Cumberlands will return to the field Saturday, March 14, when they travel to Savannah, GA to face the top-ranked SCAD Bees. The game will be played at Memorial Stadium, site of the 2020 NAIA Invitational, and is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. with live stats available here.

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