UNION, N.J. (4/18/15) – The Kean University women's lacrosse team scored 13 first-half goals as the Cougars celebrated senior day with a 19-9 NJAC win over Rutgers-Camden on Saturday. Senior Meghan Schneck had her third hat trick of the season, but juniors Jordan Blanda and Sam Gnapp stole the offensive show by recording five goals each for Kean.

After the Cougars gave up the opening goal in the game, Schneck scored a minute later to knot the contest up at one.

That goal opened a deluge of Cougar offense; Kean scored 10 of the next 11 goals over 17 minutes to open up a 10-2 lead on the now 1-11 Scarlet Raptors. Kean improved to 6-8 on the year and is now an even 2-2 in the NJAC with two games left.

Jordan Blanda scored four times in that game-winning run, and Schneck also cemented her hat trick during that dominant stretch. Kean outshot Camden 25-9 in the first half and limited Rutgers to just three clears in seven attempts.

The second half was academic – the only drama that was on display was whether the Cougars could maintain the 10-goal cushion and keep the clock winding down. The lead did see-saw between nine and 10 seven different times, but Camden got no closer than that the rest of the game.

Kean outshot Camden 37-15 and led groundballs 33-15. The Scarlet Raptors did have an edge in draw controls, 17-12, however.

Goalies Nikki Apostolopoulos and Shauna LaMaina split the game, with Apostolopoulos earning the win and making three saves.

Schneck had three assists to lead the Cougars in that category and tie Blanda for the team lead in points with six. Eliza Clark paced the team with five draw controls, while she and Steph Soares both had a game-high seven ground balls. Clark (pictured left) also caused five Rutgers turnovers.

The Cougars will be back in action at Ramapo College on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in a big NJAC game that will go a long way to determining the final playoff spot in the league.