WEST CALDWELL, N.J.- Caldwell University women's lacrosse freshman Arden Kassaleh (Pompton Plains, N.J.) tied her program record with eight goals as the Cougars defeated Holy Family University 21-11 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference action. Caldwell officially clinches a spot in the CACC Tournament for a second consecutive season with the win.
 
Caldwell improves to 7-6 overall and 5-3 in the CACC, while the Tigers fall to 2-11 and 2-6 in conference play.
 
The teams traded goals early as Kassaleh scored around a pair of Holy Family goals as the Cougars trailed 2-1. Kassaleh scored less than a minute later to tie the score at 2-2. Junior Pamela Schenck (East Moriches, N.Y.) put Caldwell in the lead for good at the 17:38 mark as part of a seven goal run. Junior Mariah Wynn (Clearwater, Fla.), Kassaleh, sophomore Maryellen McCarthy (Levittown, N.Y.), sophomore Jessica Collum (Wayne, N.J.) along with sophomore Rachel Lucia (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) netted goals as Caldwell extended to an 8-2 advantage.
 
The Tigers answered at the 8:35 mark but the Cougars responded with four unanswered goals. Schenck extended the Cougar lead to 9-3 and Kassaleh added a historic goal with 4:42 left in the opening half. She tallied her 50^th goal of the season, marking the first time in program's four years that a Cougars has scored 50 goals in a season.
 
Kassaleh added two more goals before halftime, while the Tigers netted a late score as Caldwell led 12-4 at halftime.
 
Holy Family added a goal early in the second half but Caldwell answered with four goals. Schenck, Collum, McCarthy and Lucia extended their lead to 16-5 with 20:40 left in the game.
 
The Tigers netted six goals over the final 14 minutes but never got closer than eight goals. McCarthy tallied three goals down the stretch, while Kassaleh scored a pair in the final two minutes for Caldwell.
 
For the game, Kassaleh tied her program record with eight goals that she first set against Wilmington on March 29. She added a team-high 11 draw controls for the Cougars. McCarthy chipped in five goals and one assist, while Schenck finished with three goals and two assists. Lucia tallied two goals, two assists and five draw controls, while posting team-highs with 11 groundballs and nine caused turnovers.
 
In net, sophomore Elizabeth Ruedemann (Monmouth Junction, N.J.) recorded nine saves in 48 minutes in net. Sophomore Nancy Benedetto (Jupiter, Fla.) came on in relief as she posted one save over the final 12 minutes.  
 
The Cougars host St. Thomas Aquinas in a non-conference clash on Thursday, April 20 at 4 pm at Essex Valley School in West Caldwell.