Alfred Victorious; Ithaca and Stevens Suffer a Loss
ALFRED v WELLS
The Alfred University women’s lacrosse improved to 4-6 (0-6 Empire 8) with a 19-10 win over Wells College on the road, Tuesday evening.
AU held a comfortable 9-3 lead at halftime, led by junior midfielder Ashley White (Islip, NY/Islip) who netted four goals. Alfred cushioned their lead by outscoring Wells 10-7 in the second half. For the game, Alfred held a 37-22 shot advantage.
White finished with a game-high nine goals, and won seven draw controls. Sophomore attacker Kaitlyn Button (Cazenovia, NY/Cazenovia) netted six goals and dished out two assists. Senior midfielder Tracie McGinnity (Rochester, NY/Gates-Chili) and freshman midfielder Rachel Winter (Bergen, NY/Byron-Bergen) both scored two goals apiece. Sophomore midfielder Haley Nannig (North Kingston, RI/North Kingston) picked up a game-best six ground balls and caused three turnovers.
Sophomore Taylor Tarajos (Rochester, NY/Greece Olympia) saved nine shots in 53 minutes before freshman Erin Nevin (York, PA/York) finished out the contest with a save.
The Lady Saxons wrap-up Empire 8 play against St. John Fisher College on Saturday, April 27, at 2 p.m.
ITHACA v HAMILTON
The 13th-ranked Ithaca College women's lacrosse team (10-5) suffered a 12-11 overtime setback to 19th-ranked Hamilton (8-7) Tuesday afternoon at Higgins Stadium.
The Bombers jumped out to a 5-1 lead just 17 minutes into the game, but the Continentals answered with eight consecutive to bridge the two periods. Ithaca responded to its 9-5 deficit with five straight over a six minute period to regain a 10-9 lead on a Kim Armbruster (Boonton, N.J./Montville) free position shot at 7:21. Hamilton scored an equalizer at 4:07. Senior Tracy Rivas(East Meadow, N.Y./East Meadow) fed classmate Michelle Avery (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon)for a go-ahead goal with 13 seconds lingering on the clock, but Hamilton won the ensuing draw control and found the back of the net with 1.3 seconds to send action to overtime. The Continentals scored with 34 ticks left in the six-minute OT period to snap Ithaca's six-game winning streak.
Armbruster had a Bomber-best hat trick. Rivas scored three points on two goals and one assist, while senior Kaitlyn Hoffay (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca) netted two. Senior Nikki Dahl (Columbus, Ohio/The Wellington School) found the back of the net once and served up two assists and Avery had one score and one assist. Junior Becky Guzzo (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) rounded out all points with one assist.
Senior Jess Worthman (Commack, N.Y./Hauppauge) suffered the loss in goal. She made seven saves during 66 minutes of play and had a team-high four ground balls. Dahl had three ground balls. Armbruster and Dahl forced two turnovers each.
The Bombers will play their final regular-season home game Saturday, April 27 hosting Empire 8 opponent Hartwick for senior day at 1 p.m.
STEVENS v TCNJ
The Stevens Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team fell to ninth-ranked The College of New Jersey Tuesday night at Lions' Stadium in Ewing, N.J.
The loss drops the Ducks to 7-9 overall, while TCNJ moves to 12-4. Stevens is left with one game on its regular-season schedule against Empire 8 rival Utica College Saturday at 11 a.m. If the Ducks defeat the Pioneers, they will lock up the fourth seed in the Empire 8 Women's Lacrosse Championship.
Junior attack Jen Garavante (Monroe Township, N.J.) opened the scoring for the Lions, with senior midfielder Spencer Waybright (West Hartford, Conn.) answering 1:03 later to tie the score at one with 27:16 left in the opening period.
Senior midfielder Joey Galligan (Burlingame, Calif.) gave the Ducks a 2-1 edge at the 25:26 mark, but sophomore attack Kendal Borup (Plainsboro, N.J.) tied the game at two, sparking an 11-0 run over the next 20:35 of the first half to take a commanding 12-2 lead. Junior Lauren Pigott (Jobstown, N.J.), senior Jillian Nealon (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) and Garavente all notched three markers in the spurt for TCNJ.
Stevens closed the gap to end the first period as Waybright and junior midfielder Kara Rafferty (Bayshore, N.Y.) recorded tallies and the two teams went into the break with the scoreboard showing 12-4 hosts.
Nealon and Garvente netted a pair to start the second for TCNJ, making it a 14-4 game with 25:53 left, but three-straight Stevens goals – one each from Rafferty, Waybright and freshman midfielder Mackenzie Swartout (Rochester, N.Y.) – cut the Lions lead to seven (14-7) with a shade under 22 minutes remaining.
From that point, TCNJ tightened up its defense, allowing just one Duck goal over the final 21:51 for the final margin of 15-8.
Senior Meg Collins (Marshfield, Mass.) and junior Mel Welcome (Winsted, Conn.) split the game in goal for Stevens, combining for seven saves. Welcome and the Ducks' defense did a solid job over the final 30-plus minutes, allowing just three goals over the final 34:01 of action.
Waybright led Stevens with four goals and five draw controls, while Rafferty tallied twice and had three draw controls. Galligan had a marker, three caused turnovers and five ground balls, and Swartout notched a pair of points (one goal, one assist).
Borup, Pigott, Garavente and Nealon all had three or more goals, with Nealon and Pigott each picking up three draw controls.
TCNJ ended with a 30-19 margin in shots, with the Ducks winning 13 of the game's 25 draw controls. The Lions ended with an 18-15 advantage in ground balls and committed 11 turnovers compared to 15 for Stevens.
Saturday's 11 a.m. game vs. Utica at the De Baun Athletic Complex will be webcast live at www.Empire8.TV. Prior to the action Stevens will honor its seniors and it will also be Spring Sports Day 2013 with great events and contests on campus all day.