Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/18/12
The Villanova women’s lacrosse team (1-0) opened up the 2012 with a bang earning a convincing 16-7 victory at Wagner on Saturday afternoon.
Senior Justine Donodeo led Villanova’s attack with six goals on eight shots. Junior Maria Bowman recorded three goals, while freshmen Jackie Froccaro and Hannah Goforth (Bishop Shanahan) tallied two goals apiece. Sophomores Ali Brandenburg, Ali Judge and Katie Collopy each posted one goal.
“We came out on fire with nine goals in the first half,” head coach Julie Young said. “We played as a solid, unified team and caused turnovers. We held off Wagner’s momentum in the second half and finished the game with a strong performance. It was a great all-around team effort on the field today.”
The Wildcats dominated the first half of play scoring nine goals, while keeping Wagner from scoring. Bowman got Villanova on the board scoring the first two goals just two and a half minutes apart.
The Seahawks stormed out of halftime and scored five goals, which cut Villanova’s lead to 9-5 with 17:40 left in the game. The Wildcats saw their lead cut to three, 10-7 after Carolyn Clark scored for Wagner at the 13:35 mark, but it was the last goal that Villanova allowed.
Bowman handed out three assists in the victory, while junior Anne Fallon gave out two and classmate Shannon Lane gave out one assist.
Villanova combined for 12 caused turnovers and held the Seahawks to just eight.
Junior Amanda Hirschfeld allowed zero goals scored in 43:35 minutes of playing time to earn the victory.
“I am really proud of our team,” Donodeo said. “Every player had a hand in the win and everyone gave their best effort today. Coming off of this win will really help us come out confident at Delaware and help keep us focused against a team we haven’t played before.”
The Wildcats will play at Delaware on Wednesday, Feb. 22 beginning at 4:00 p.m.
Lehigh 8, Marist 5
The Mountain Hawks jumped out to a 6-0 halftime lead before holding off a Marist charge to win its season-opener. The Red Foxes pulled as close as 6-5 with less than 10 minutes remaining, but the Mountain Hawks added two late insurance goals to erase any doubt. Senior Leigh Ann Torcivia shattered her career-high with five points via two goals and three assists in the victory.
“We’re thrilled to get a win, first of all,” said Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern. “It’s exciting for that. We played exactly according to our game plan in the first half, then in the second, we had a bunch of unforced errors which they capitalized on.”
Sophomore Julie Tatios (Bayard Rustin) tied a career-high two goals while seniors Lauren Murray and Kelly Draper scored a goal, as did freshmen Carli Sukonik (Harriton) and Kelsey Yenco. Sophomore Alexandra Fitzpatrick was stellar with 11 saves, including six stops without allowing a goal in the first.
“We were really patient on attack and that’s sort of new for us, to not go down and shoot right away,” said Redfern. “I thought our defense played well and Alex was a total difference maker back there.”
After over eight minutes of scoreless action, Tatios scored the first goal of the season at 21:45 off a free position shot. Torcivia added her first less than two minutes later before the Mountain Hawks used a surge of three goals in a 3:01 span to open a 5-0 advantage at the 9:49 mark. Tatios and Torcivia both scored their second of the game, while Sukonik added her first collegiate goal with one second on the clock to make it 6-0 at the half.
Marist slowly chipped away, pulling within 6-3 at 17:21, then as close as 6-5 following an Ariel Kramer goal with 7:24 remaining. But the Mountain Hawks responded with goals from Yenco and Draper in the final five minutes to wrap up the victory.
Final shots stood even at 18 while Marist held a 20-19 edge in groundballs. Lehigh finished with eight draw controls to five for the Red Foxes while their goalkeeper Ashley Casiano had six saves across Fitzpatrick’s 11.
“[Our team] grew up a lot, just getting through that game and coming out with a win – not letting it get away from them,” said Redfern.
The Mountain Hawks will return to action next Saturday (Feb. 25) at Delaware. Opening draw is set for 3 p.m.
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