ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – The Hood College women's lacrosse team finished their 2026 regular season campaign on the road against the Eagles of Eastern University on Saturday afternoon with a convincing 18-11 win.
Inside the Box Score
Julia Gregory (Sussex, N.J./Vernon Twp.) netted five goals to end her decorated career with 124 and won nine draw controls in the contest to finish with the program record of 297.
Maggie Merrill (Marriottsville, Md./Marriotts Ridge) scored five goals and assisted on four.
Abbey Bolingbroke (Jefferson, Md./Brunswick) won five draw controls and added a goal in the game.
Madison Nalborczyk (Brunswick, Md./Brunswick) picked up three ground balls and teammate
Menna Salem (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) caused three turnovers.
How it Happened
The Blazers found themselves down a goal early into the contest, but
Emma Massey (Felton, Del./Lake Forest) would find
Maggie Merrill (Marriottsville, Md./Marriotts Ridge) to tie the score at 1-1.
Shortly after the Eagles netted another goal, but the Blazers earned a free position shot attempt after a Eastern penalty, which saw
Geneva DiRe (Lebanon Township, N.J./Voorhees) fire the attempt into the back of the net.
Midway through the first,
Julia Gregory (Sussex, N.J./Vernon Twp.) would help extend the Blazers lead after she netted a pair of goals to make the score 4-2 and end the first quarter up by two.
The second quarter showed shades of the first as Massey again found Merrill just over 15 seconds into the quarter to extend Hood's lead.
The Blazers offense was clicking, but now it was
Menna Salem (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) who joined the fun with a goal and gave Hood a 6-2 lead.
Eastern stopped the bleeding as the quarter progressed and cut the lead to three, but the Hood netted three more goals to enter the half up 9-3.
To start the second half, the offenses were on full display as both team traded goals throughout the third quarter, but the Blazers held the advantage and clearly the momentum was on their side.
As the third quarter came to a close, the Blazers held a commanding 14-6 lead over the Eagles.
Hood started to pour it on to start the fourth quarter as
Rachel Harper (Ellicott City, Md./Marriotts Ridge) netted yet another goal for the squad and the Blazers now held a nine goal lead over the Eagles.
The Eagles didn't flinch as they answered with two goals of their own to cut into the lead.
Hood earned an insurance goal from
Abbey Bolingbroke (Jefferson, Md./Brunswick) to make the lead 16-8, but Eastern was determined despite the deficit and fired two more goals to make the score 16 to 10.
Under four minutes remained in the game and time was of the essence for both teams, as the Blazers scored key goals through
Maggie Merrill (Marriottsville, Md./Marriotts Ridge) who assisted Julia Gegory on a goal, then a few minutes later a
Meghan Welker (Frederick, Md./Walkersville) goal boosted the lead to eight. Eight seconds remained in the contest and Eastern fired a shot into the back of the net, but the Blazers came out on top and soared to victory over the Eagles in 18-11 win to end the season.
For the Opponent
Gracie Horton netted six goals to lead Eastern.
Natalia Willoughby led the Eagles in draw controls won with four, and ground balls with three.
Analysis
Hood outshot Eastern 38-26.
The Blazers won the ground battle 14-11 and draw controls 18-13.
Notes
Hood finishes the regular season 7-8 overall and 3-4 in conference play.
Eastern finishes their regular season 4-11 overall and 0-7 in conference play.
Up Next
The Hood College women's lacrosse team will return in the spring for their 2027 campaign.
