Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell

Boxscore

NEWARK, Del. - Senior forward Casey Howard scored a school-record five goals and the University of Delaware field hockey team set a new mark with 10 total goals as the Blue Hens ran away with a 10-2 victory over Brown on Sunday afternoon at Rullo Stadium.

During the game, Howard (top right) scored five of the team's first seven goals to set a new single-game program record. She broke the previous mark of four, which was originally set by Judy Anderson in 1972 and equaled four other times. The last Blue Hen to post four was Melissa Hefner against Vermont on October 14, 1995.

Howard, who also assisted on a pair of goals against the Bears, set a Delaware record for points in a game as well. Her 12 points smashed the previous mark of eight set numerous times during the program's 38-year history.

Buoyed by her efforts, the Blue Hens (1-2) were also able to break the team record for goals in a game. The previous record of nine was accomplished three times with the most recent coming against Vermont in 1992.

Along with Howard's incredible performance, Kimmy Schlezes also tacked on two goals and an assist, while Missy Woodie added a pair of assists. Michelle Drummonds (bottom right) had a great day as well, recording a goal, assist, and defensive save.

Howard opened the scoring right out of the chute, blasting a rocket past Brown's Caroline Washburn just 45 seconds into the game. Less than three minutes later, Rae Everson ripped her first goal of the season after being set up by beautiful passes from Howard and Woodie.

At 12:23, Howard capped the scoring in the first half after taking a pass from Schlezes and sneaking it into the cage. Although the Blue Hen offense was quiet for the remainder of the half, the squad came out firing after halftime.

Two minutes into the second stanza, Howard locked up her second career hat trick with an unassisted goal at 37:24. With the floodgates open, Schlezes chipped in with her first score of the season at 40:57 before Howard added her fourth of the game at 48:41. She quickly followed with her final tally after corralling a pass from Drummonds and depositing the shot into the back of the cage at 50:38.

With the Hens leading 7-0, Brown (0-2) added its first goal of the contest when Kat Masini found an open space in the Delaware defense. After Drummonds capitalized on a penalty corner set up by Everson and Woodie to regain a seven-goal lead for Delaware, Tacy Zysk answered with her second score of the season for the Bears.

After that point, the Delaware defense held tough and kept the Bears off the board. Eventually, Schlezes knocked home her second goal off a pass from Carli Shutter at 58:33, while Rachel Schexnayder capped the scoring with a blast off a feed from Howard with two minutes remaining in regulation.

Overall, Delaware held a 20-9 advantage in shots and an 11-5 edge in penalty corners.

Goalie Noelle Diana posted three saves in the cage for the Hens, including an incredible stop on a Brown penalty corner. Early in the first half, the sophomore keeper made an impressive diving save on a laser by Katie Hyland. After Leslie Springmeyer lined up the penalty corner, Michaela Siego made a beautiful feed to Hyland, but Diana shut the door and rejected the shot after diving to her right.

The Blue Hens will look to stay hot on Friday when the squad hosts Rutgers at 3 p.m.