BALTIMORE, MD --Loyola’s Kate McHarg tied her career-high with seven goals as she led the Greyhounds to a 16-10 win over the University of Delaware in women’s lacrosse action Saturday afternoon in both teams season-opener at Diane Geppi-Aikens Field.

The Blue Hens, who finished 8-8 overall last season, were led by sophomore Casey McCrudden (at right), who tied her career-high with five goals. Sophomore Jenny Diana, who was Delaware's leading goal scorer as a freshman in 2004 with 38 and redshirted last season due to an injury, added three goals and one assist in the loss.

Delaware scored the first goal of the contest with 21:08 remaining in the first half on a shot by senior Megan Hager. McHarg, a member of the 2006 Pre-Season Tewaaraton Watch List, evened the score 3:52 later with her first goal of the season, before McCrudden put the Blue Hens ahead, 2-1, off of an assist from Diana at the 10:54 mark.

Loyola scored the next two goals to take a 3-2 lead with 6:27 remaining in the first half, but McCrudden answered exactly one minute later off of an assist from newcomer Debbie Sloan to tie the game at three apiece.

The Greyhounds took the lead for the final time in the first half with 2:59 remaining on a goal by Talia Shacklock. McCrudden and Sloan scored back-to-back goals 21 seconds apart which put the Blue Hens up, 5-4, at the 1:41 mark. McHarg evened the score just before the half on a free position shot with 1:27 left in the first half.

McCrudden gave Delaware a 6-5 lead 8:51 into the second half with her fourth goal of the day, but Loyola answered with two goals by Maura Kenny to take a 7-6 lead. McCrudden tied the game for the third time of the afternoon at the 22:33 mark on a free position shot.

Two unassisted goals by McHarg put the Greyhounds up for the remainder of the contest with 17:18 left to play. Diana answered with her first goal of the game with 14:05 remaining to bring Delaware within one, but Loyola responded with the next four goals to take a 13-8 lead.

Diana scored an unassisted goal with 1:47 left for her second goal of the game., but Loyola answered with two more goals to make it 15-9 in favor of the Greyhounds. Diana recorded her first hat trick of the season with 53 seconds left in the game to round out the scoring for Delaware, and Loyola’s Shacklock ended the scoring for the Greyhounds with 32 seconds remaining.

The Blue Hens will host the University of Denver in their home opener on Tuesday, February 28 for a 7:30 p.m. game.

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