Nazareth and Utica Win
Nazareth 9, William Smith 8
The Nazareth Golden Flyers sneak past the William Smith Herons 9-8 in a women's non-conference lacrosse game Saturday afternoon. Nazareth is 1-0 overall. The Herons fall to 0-3 following the loss.
The Golden Flyers opened up their season on the road against the William Smith Herons Saturday afternoon. Nazareth earned the victory when junior
Brooke Sullivan scored on a free position shot with 0:01 left in the game. Sullivan had a team high three goals for the Golden Flyers. Teammate
Kelsey McNaboe added two goals for Nazareth and
Carly Gates,
Amy McIntosh,
Brianna Mancini, and
Jamie Martin each earned one goal in the victory.
In the first half, Nazareth outshot William Smith 13-10, leading 6-5 at the end of the half. Senior goalkeeper
Tara Prosak had four total saves for the Golden Flyers.
Play continued to be tough in the second half. Nazareth was outshot by William Smith 9-7, but the Golden Flyers were able to hold off the Herons in the last second of play to earn the win. Prosak had two saves in the second half for a game total of six saves.
Utica 7, SUNY Potsdam 6
Junior
Megan Kane (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) scored the game-winner with eight seconds left to lift the Utica College women's lacrosse team over host SUNY Potsdam, 7-6, Saturday afternoon at Hantz Field on the campus of Clarkson University.
The Pioneers were down 6-4 with 18:35 remaining, but fought back to tie the game, leading to Kane's heroics. Freshman
Rebecca Plunkett (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) had a career day, scoring six goals and assisting on Kane's game-winner to guide the Pioneers to their second straight victory.
Colleen Dowling (Fairport, NY/Fairport) had a game-high three assists, while Kane and
Morgan DuPont (Wynantskill, NY/Averill Park) also added helpers.
Sisters
Megan Kane (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) and
Patricia Kane (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) combined for 10 ground balls, while Plunkett led all players with 11 shots. Sophomore
Erin Jacobson (Staten Island, NY/Curtis) had a career-high nine saves in the win. Potsdam was led by Michelle Varney, who netted two goals, and Bailey Weigel, who had one goal and one assist. Jen Chmiel made 12 stops in goal for Potsdam.
York 14, Ithaca 12
The 20th-ranked Ithaca College women's lacrosse team dropped its second straight loss to a top-10 team Saturday. The Bombers (0-2) suffered a 14-12 setback to ninth-ranked York (Pa.) (3-1) at Kinsley Field.
The game was tied on seven occasions, including a 5-5 stalemate at the half, after going goal-for-goal during the first 30 minutes of play. Ithaca crept ahead 7-5 in the second, but the Spartans answered to knot action. The contest was last deadlocked at 8-all before a 4-1 run secured York and infinite lead. The Spartans secured a four-goal gap at 5:44. Ithaca responded with a pair of its own, but the clock expired in York's favor, 14-12.
Sophomore
Ally Runyon had a game-best four goals, while sophomore
Riley Marion added a hat trick and an assist for four points against the Spartans.
Rookie
Emily Ross suffered the loss between the pipes. Making eight stops in 56 minutes of play, Ross scooped up five ground balls.
York held a 28-25 edge in shots and bettered the Bombers 17-11 in draw controls. Ithaca, who went 3-for-4 in free position shots, collected 17 ground balls to the Spartans' 15.
Lycoming 11, Elmira 9
After trailing 9-5 at the 16:15 mark of the second half, the Elmira College women's lacrosse team (1-0) found their touch on the offensive end as the Soaring Eagles scored six unanswered goals to close out the game, winning their season opener against Lycoming College (0-3), 11-9.
Moorea Spoljaric '16, Elmira's leading goal scorer last season, continued her scoring ways in EC's season opener as she led all players with four goals, one of which came on a free position opportunity. Defensively, Elmira's
Rebecca Matturro '14 served as the anchor in the back, forcing a team-high four turnovers along with grabbing a team-high seven ground balls. Matturro also got it done offensively, scoring one goal and assisting on another. Elmira goalkeeper
LeAnna Presler '14 made 10 saves as she recorded her first win of the 2014 season.
Despite the snow on the ground and frigged temperature, Elmira started today's game on fire, scoring the game's first four goals. Spoljaric lead the EC charge, scoring the game's first three goals, two of which were unassisted. Scoring Elmira's fourth goal was
Kylie Connell '17, whose first half score was the first of her collegiate career.
Trailing 4-0, Lycoming used a five-goal run to end the first half, taking a 5-4 lead into halftime. Lycoming's Savannah Fox scored a pair of goals during the five-goal run, including the final goal of the half which was scored as time expired.
The Warriors of Lycoming continued to apply pressure in the second half as they opened play with two consecutive goals, taking a 7-4 lead with 24:47 to play in regulation. Five minutes later, Elmira's Matturro cut the lead to one with a goal but the Warriors answered with a pair of goals to take their largest lead of the game, 9-5 at the 16:15 mark.
With the game slipping away, rookie
Kelsey Quail '17 swung the momentum in EC's favor with back-to-back goals at the 13:18 and 10:41 marks of the second half. For Quail, her two scores are the first of her EC career.
A big momentum change in the second half also occurred when
Jessica Blinkinsop '14 took over the draw control duties. Once she took over, Elmira won six of the game's final seven draws, including four that she claimed on her own.
Quail's two goals proved to be the difference as Elmira scored four more times throughout the remainder of the game to win their season opener, 11-9. Scoring the game-winner today was senior
Sami Risi '14 who punched home her first goal of the season at the 8:33 mark on a great individual effort.
Wilkes 18, Houghton 6
Houghton women's lacrosse dropped an 18-6 decision to Wilkes University on the road Saturday.
The host Colonels jumped out to a 13-0 halftime lead after outshooting the Highlanders 24-4 in the first 30 minutes.
Houghton scored three of the first goals and four of the first seven goals in the second half, but the deficit was too large to overcome.
The Highlanders outscored the Colonels 6-5 in the second half and held a 14-12 shots advantage.
Chandler Jones led Houghton offensively with two goals and an assist. Jenny Zacchigna, Amanda Zacchigna, Tyler Reese and Nicole Mason also added goals.
Carly Congilosi made eight saves in goal.