Fourth-Ranked Middlebury Upends Stevens Women’s Lacrosse

Fourth-Ranked Middlebury Upends Stevens Women’s Lacrosse

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Rob Kulish



HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 27, 2013) – The fourth-ranked Middlebury College women’s lacrosse team defeated Stevens Institute of Technology, 16-5, Wednesday afternoon at the De Baun Athletic Complex in Hoboken, N.J.
 
With the win, Middlebury improves to 6-0, while the Ducks drop to 3-5. Three of the Ducks’ five losses have come at the hands of team’s ranked in the IWLCA top-10 with four of the five occurring to 2012 NCAA Tournament teams.
 
Leading the Ducks was junior midfielder Kara Rafferty (Bayshore, N.Y.) who had four goals on eight shots, one ground ball and one draw control. Senior midfielder Joey Galligan (Burlingame, Calif.) tallied a goal, one assist and two ground balls, while senior midfielder Spencer Waybright (West Hartford, Conn.) had a team-best three draw controls and a pair of ground balls. Freshman Jaimie Mastrogiacomo (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) handed out one helper and caused two turnovers, and sophomore Gabriela Sanchez (Auburn, N.H.) had two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Sophomore Amanda Ingersoll (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) had a pair of CT’s and one ground ball.
 
Middlebury was led by three goals and one helper from senior midfielder Margaret Souther (Scarsdale, N.Y.), and three scores from junior midfielder Liza Herzog (Baltimore, Md.). Freshman midfielder Chrissy Ritter (Middlebury, Vt.) had two goals, two caused turnovers and one draw control, while senior attack Emma Kramer (Riverside, Conn.) had a pair of goals. Sophomore Catherine Fowler (Grosse Point, Mich.) had two points and three draw controls.
 
Middlebury scored the game’s first tally 1:41 in, with Rafferty pulling the Ducks even from Galligan at the 24:44 mark of the first half. The Panthers ran off the next three markers, and after Rafferty’s second of the first, two more as the scoreboard read 6-2 after 16:23 of game time.
 
Rafferty’s third score of the game, trimmed the Middlebury lead to three goals (6-3) with 11:17 remaining in the opening period, but the Panthers scored eight-straight times bridging the first and second half to open a 14-3 advantage with 18:25 left in the contest. Galligan put away her goal with 15:51 on the clock and the two teams traded scores down the stretch for a final of 16-5.
 
Middlebury ended with a 27-11 edge in shots with 24 being on goal. All 11 of the Ducks shots were on target but Panther goalies Alyssa Palomba (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Kate Mandigo (Cornwall, Vt.) combined for six saves. Palomba took the win with five stops in 49-plus minutes.
 
Senior Meg Collins (Marshfield, Mass.) recorded eight denials for Stevens despite taking the loss.
 
Middlebury won 12 draw controls compared to 11 for Stevens and also ended with a 22-19 edge in ground balls.
 
Stevens will return to action Friday afternoon at 12 p.m. when it hosts No. 13 Ithaca College in the Empire 8-opener for both schools. For those unable to make the journey to Hoboken, all the action will be webcast live at www.Empire8.TV.