After three close games to start the season, the Muhlenberg women’s lacrosse team breezed by Moravian, 16-5.

Muhlenberg improved its record to 4-0 for the first time in program history and helped the school take a commanding 8-4 lead over Moravian in

Freshman Sara Hiller scored on all three of her shots for her first career hat trick.

the Matte Award standings. Six events remain, including five in the next week.

Like they did last year against Moravian (0-2), the Mules took control of the game early. Senior Courtney Tapkas scored two goals in the first 1:31 and a third, to give Muhlenberg a 4-0 advantage, at the 6:11 mark. Tapkas’ third goal gave her the 30th hat trick of her career – the most in program history. She finished with four goals in the game.

The Greyhounds scored the next goal, but Muhlenberg added five more before halftime to build a 9-1 lead.

“We knew we wanted to come out strong and keep up the momentum we’ve built,” said Tapkas. “We didn’t worry about their plan. We just knew we had to implement what we did in practice. Our strengths today were our toughness and our intensity.”

The Mules’ defensive intensity kept Moravian struggling to get its offense set up throughout the game, and the Greyhounds often were forced to rush shots. When they did get a shot on goal, freshman Caroline Shadood was there, as she made a season-high 11 saves.

“They tried to bring the ball behind the net constantly,” said Shadood. “They looked to do crease rolls to get off good shots, but our defense was ready every time. [The defense] talked to each other very well today.”

Shadood was forced to make a number of point-blank shots. She also had to deal with 13 free-position shots, none of which found the back of the net.

Muhlenberg capitalized on its free-position shots, scoring on four of seven opportunities, including two by freshman Ruth Morrongiello, who had four goals in total.

The large lead allowed other members of the Muhlenberg freshman class a chance to see extended playing action for the first time. Erin Shapiro picked up four ground balls and caused a turnover to stop a Moravian scoring chance. Two of the Mules’ free-position goals were first career tallies by Sarah Bucci and Kate Noone.

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