Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/28/09
The No. 2 Penn women’s lacrosse team survived Columbia’s eight-goal surge in the second half and prevailed, 16-11, Friday in the Ivy League.
The Quakers (2-0 Ivy) remain undefeated this season at 8-0. In a tale of two halves, Penn came out ahead thanks to a 13-3 first half. Juniors Ali DeLuca and Emma Spiro led the Red and Blue with four goals each.
The first half looked like most of Penn’s games this season. Opening with an early goal on and eight-meter shot, DeLuca scored twice more before six minutes had expired. The Quakers cruised to an 11-0 lead and did not let Columbia (5-3, 0-1) into the game until 6:36 when Lauren Olsen netted one. That sparked a three-goal run over the next three minutes, but Penn punctuated the period with two more scores and held a 13-3 at the break.
Nearly every statistical category was flipped in the second half. Where Penn had out shot the Lions 20-5 in the first, Columbia dominated the shots 16-7. On free position attempts, Penn made four in the first to Columbia’s one, but that was switched in the second.
One area that Penn did stay consistent in is allowing few assists. Despite allowing the most goals of the season, the Penn defense did not allow the Lions to set up plays. Five of Columbia’s goals came on free position shots and the other six were all unassisted.
Both teams saw minutes from two goalies. For Penn, junior Emily Szelest made four saves in 40 minutes in goal. Newcomer Emily Leitner made one save in her 20 minutes. For Columbia, Emma Mintz made six saves in the first and was swapped out for Karlee Blank in the second. Blank made two saves in the second.
Kaitlyn Lombardo and Erin Brennan each had two goals for Penn and Courtney Lubbe (Council Rock North) had a goal and two assists while Becca Edwards (Springfield-Montco), Allison Tatios (Bayard Rustin) and Giulia Giordano had goals. Hannah Rudloff (West Chester East) added two assists.
The game kicked off a three-game road stretch for Penn. The Quakers will head south to Johns Hopkins on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Members of the Penn women’s lacrosse team will be honored tomorrow at the National Lacrosse League’s Philadelphia Wings game at the Wachovia Center tonight. That game is set for 7:30 p.m.
St. Joseph’s 15, Temple 6
Jenna Martino (two assists) and Helene Tursi each scored three goals while Meghan McDevitt and Julie Mineweaser (North Penn) added a pair each for the Hawks (5-6) in their Atlantic 10 opener. Jacqueline Mercer and Brittney Hoffman each had two goals for the struggling Owls (0-8).
Massachusetts 17, La Salle 2
Jill Davis (La Salle) and Elizabeth Iacullo each scored for the Explorers (3-5) in the A-10 opener.
Syracuse 15, Louisville 4
Megan Mosenson (Great Valley) had a goal and three assists to lead the Orange (7-2, 2-0) to the Big East win. Bergan Foley (Gwynedd Mercy Academy) had two goals for the Cards (6-2, 0-1), making their Big East debut.
Stanford 10, Johns Hopkins 7
Bess Siegfried (Agnes Irwin) and Julie Christy (Conestoga) each scored once for the Cardinal (7-2).
Robert Morris 19, Wagner 14
Courtney Sicinski (Downingtown West) had two goals for RM (2-7). Kelly Blundin (Plymouth Whitemarsh) had four goals and Jessica Richmond (Jenkintown) added three for Wagner (5-5).
George Washington 18, Duquesne 9
Sarah Phillips (Downingtown West) had three goals and an assist and Taylor Donohue (Radbor) had a goal and four assists to lead GW (2-8, 1-0) to the A-10 victory.
Richmond 17, St. Bonaventure 15
Sam Tijirian (Springfield-Delco) scored once and Tori Roebuck (Springside School) made four saves while playing most of the second half in goal to help the Spiders claim the A-10 win, for their first win of the season.
