Nazareth rallies in OT: Ithaca and Houghton Fall
NAZARETH 12, William Smith 11 (OT)
Freshman
Haley DeVona scored four goals, including the game-winner with :20 left in overtime Saturday as visiting Nazareth rallied for a 12-11 victory over William Smith in a non-conference women's lacrosse game at Boswell Field.
The game, originally scheduled to be played at Nazareth, was moved to William Smith due to icy field conditions at Nazareth. The game was the season opener for the Golden Flyers, who trailed 7-2 in the first half and 7-3 at halftime. William Smith dropped to 0-2 with its second straight one-goal defeat.
"We were very confident that we could come back in the second half," said Nazareth Coach
Traci Lian. "We just needed to compose ourselves and take care of the little things like ground balls and draw controls."
The teams were tied 10-10 heading into the six-minute overtime period after William Smith's Hannah Connolly scored the final two goals of regulation, including the tying score with :41 left. The Herons then scored the first goal of overtime, with 2:42 left, as Alexandra Bird scored unassisted for her second goal of the game. Junior
Carly Gates tied the game again with her third goal with 1:37 left. DeVona, playing in her first collegiate game, then delivered the game winner with just :20 left. The Herons won the ensuing draw control but couldn't generate another shot.
Nazareth led 2-1 early in the game following goals by Gates and DeVona. William Smith then rattled off six straight goals to take a seemingly safe 7-2 lead with less than 10 minutes to play in the half. Sophomore
Jamie Martin scored off an assist from Gates with :57 left in the half to close the gap to 7-3 by halftime.
The Golden Flyers completed their comeback in the first 10 minutes of the second half as they scored four straight goals. First DeVona scored off an assist from sophomore
Leah Marvin, then senior
Brooke Sullivan and sophomore
Kate Rothrock followed with unassisted scores. Gates then tied it at 7-7 off an assist from Sullivan with 20:14 to go.
A goal by William Smith's Molly Neureuter interrupted the flurry, before Nazareth scored the next three goals -- Sullivan, DeVona and Martin -- to go up 10-8. Connolly then delivered her two goals for the Herons to force overtime.
William Smith had slim advantages in shots (27-25) and ground balls (19-18). Senior defender
MacKenzie Haley had four of Nazareth's ground balls and senior
Ashley Kirch made eight saves in her first career start in goal.
York 9, ITHACA 7
In a matchup of nationally-ranked teams, No. 13 York held on for a 9-7 victory over the 18th-ranked Ithaca College women's lacrosse team on Saturday at Kinsley Field. The host Spartans led 7-3 at halftime but Ithaca rallied to within one goal twice in the second half. Ithaca is 1-1 on the season and York is 3-1.
Ithaca opened the scoring at York two minutes into the game on a goal from
Natalie Lang, but the Spartans answered with four straight goals. Ithaca pulled back into the contest with goals from Lang and
Ally Runyon. York scored the final three goals of the first half.
Ithaca started with three straight goals in the second half – two by Runyon and another from
Taylor Purvis. The second Runyon goal brought Ithaca to within 7-6 with 21:40 remaining. York scored to rebuild its two-goal lead, but
Morgan Cadwell answered for Ithaca to make it 8-7 with 16:51 left. Neither team scored over the next 13 minutes until York closed the game with an insurance goal with three and a half minutes left.
Bomber goalkeeper
Emily Ross started and made two saves over the first 25 minutes of the game.
Kimberly Presuto played the last 35 minutes in goal and made nine saves in her collegiate debut.
Runyon led Ithaca with three goals and an assist. Lang scored twice.
Riley Marion had two assists, and Cadwell had a goal and an assist.
Oswego 18, HOUGHTON 6
Houghton women's lacrosse surrendered the game's first four goals and dropped an 18-6 decision to the visiting Oswego State Lakers on Saturday at Burke Field.
The Lakers got their first tally with just 42 seconds gone in the game and took a 7-3 lead into the break. Houghton got goals from Chandler Jones, Jennifer Zacchigna and Meghan Oswald in the first half. Jones added a second goal in the final 30 minutes, as Houghton also got second half scores from Tyler Reese and Elizabeth Westwood. Jones added two assists on the afternoon.
Kourtnie Franklin maded 16 stops in net as the Highlanders were outshot 48-18.