UTICA, N.Y. - Sophomore attacker Natalie Whitten netted two goals and dished out a single-game program record eight assists to help Husson University pick-up their ninth victory of the season over SUNY Poly, 19-7, in a North Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse contest on Sunday afternoon.

Both teams scored in the first three minutes of the contest, as Whitten hit pay dirt two minutes and 20 seconds into play and junior Kaitlin Kopcza netted the equalizer at the 13:12 mark.

Husson (9-4, 5-1 NAC) went on to score four unanswered tallies, as freshman Averi Baker and senior Sophia Gomez each tally two goals apiece to make it a 5-1 game with 12:36 left in the second quarter.

Senior Molly Burdick put SUNY Poly (3-11, 2-4 NAC) back on the board with a goal at the 11:34 mark, but the Eagles scored five of the six remaining goals that were scored in the final minutes of the first half to build a 10-3 lead going into the break. The Eagles received two goals from Baker and Gomez, and one from freshman Laela Martinez.  

After junior Madison Bastien gave the Wildcats' their fourth goal of the game at the 13:46 mark of the third, Husson netted nine of the game's final 12 goals and held a 19-7 cushion after junior Abigail Booth potted her second goal of the contest off Whitten's school record eighth dish of the game with 2:16 left in the final frame.

The Eagles held the lead in shots (39-20), shots on goal (32-17), ground balls (30-17), caused turnovers (15-9), and draw controls (17-12) in the conference victory.

Husson sophomore goalkeeper Emma Begin made ten saves to earn her third victory of the season, while SUNY Poly's netminder Jayden Brown had 13 saves in the setback.

Whitten registered two goals, eight assists, three ground balls, and a caused turnovers. The previous single-game school record of seven was set on April 25, 2016 by Alissa Fallon vs. Maine Maritime Academy. Baker netted five goals with four assists, two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Gomez contributed five goals, three ground balls, a caused turnover and a game-high nine draw controls. Martinez scored two goals with two assists, four ground balls, four caused turnovers and three draw controls. Booth and sophomore Maddy Benoit each posted two goals in the victory.

Kopcza netted four goals with three ground balls, a caused turnover and four draw controls to lead the Wildcats in the setback. Burrick netted two goals and Bastien added a goal.

As a team, Husson recorded 14 assists on the afternoon breaking the program's single-game record of 12, which was set on April 2, 2016 at Northern Vermont University-Johnson.

As a result of today's win, head coach Amanda Deshaies has set a new program record for the most wins by a head coach in their first season at the helm of the program. Deshaies' nine wins beats the previous record set by Madeline Hoeppner, who won eight games with the Eagles in 2015.

The second seeded Eagles will return to action on Saturday, May 6th when they face the third seeded Mariners of Maine Maritime Academy in a North Atlantic Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship semifinal matchup in Canton, N.Y. The game time will be announced later in the week.