Dover, Del. (Apr.14, 2015) --- Delaware State led by 10 goals at the half and held off a furious second period rally to defeat Howard 17-15 in the Hornets' 2015 finale at Alumni Stadium today.
The Hornets won two of their last three games to end the third season in team history with a 2-13 record.
Emily Etkins (so.) scored a school-record six goals to lead the Hornets in the contest. Etkins ended the season with 28 goals and 33 points to set team records for the second straight year, eclipsing the previous highs of 20 goals and 24 points she set in 2014.
Iman Hassan, Kayla Yurkanin and Megan Card scored three goals each for the Hornets. Yurkanin and Card also had two assists to tally five points in the game.
Etkins and Card scored three goals each in the first period to lead the Hornets to a 13-3 lead at the half.
Howard scored eight of the first 10 goals in the second period to cut the Hornets' lead to 15-11. After Etkins scored her fifth goal of the game to stretch DSU's lead to five, the Bison responded with three in a row to pull to within 16-14.
Yurkanin gave the Hornets an insurance goal with 1:19 left to play.
Howard's Jaymie Cox led all players with seven goals and eight points, while teammate Aria Williams had four scores in the contest.
The Hornets got on the board first on a goal by Etkins less than two minutes into the game.
After Howard tied the score at 1-1, DSU ran off four unanswered goals, including two by Etkins, to open up a 5-1 lead.
Howard pulled to within 5-2 on Williams' second goal of the game at the 18:38 mark of the first period.
The Hornets answered with a five-goal run, highlighted by Card's second and third scores of the game, to open up a 10-2 lead.
DSU tallied the last three goals of the period, including back-to-back scores by Hassan. Lauren Perry scored the final goal of the period with 6:39 left to give the Hornets a 13-3 lead at the break.
Howard began its comeback 35 seconds into the second period when Williams scored her third goal of the game to cut DSU's lead to nine.
The Hornets led 14-4 before the Bison scored seven of the next eight goals to get back into the game. Cox scored four times during the run. Her fifth goal of the game cut DSU's lead to 15-10. Williams tallied her fourth goal of the game a minute later to pull Howard to within four.
The Bison trailed 16-14 after a score by Taylor Gainey with 4:16 left to play, but some adept passing and ball handling by the Hornets set up Yurkanin's insurance goal with 79 seconds left to play.
The teams combined for 71 shots in the game, 36 for Howard and 35 by the Hornets.
DSU goal keeper Rhian Sellers had 12 saves, while Bison goal keeper Amerra Sheckles stopped 11 shots.
STINGERS
Delaware State's 17 goals marked the second-best scoring output in team history … the Hornets put 18 on the board in their win over UDC on Apr. 8 … Yurkanin finished second on the Hornets with 14 goals and 19 points this season … Card's two assists vs. Howard gave her a team-high seven for the season … the Hornets scored a team-record 109 goals this season, 45 more than last year ... ... the contest also marked the final collegiate appearance for Delaware State seniors Cris Glenn, Sierra Harris and Kimberly Jivers, who were honored before the game.
