Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/10/15
From Press Release
The University of Pennsylvania women’s lacrosse team saw its 2015 season come to an end in an exciting NCAA Second Round meeting with No. 4 Syracuse, 13-10.
Penn (14-5) was unable to mount a comeback in the second half, never getting close than two goals behind, a 3-0 Orange run over the final six minutes of the first half and the opening minute of the second providing the ultimate difference.
Penn gave the ‘Cuse everything it could handle in the first half, holding a pair of leads in the opening period and bringing proceedings to the 22:32 mark tied at 6-6 before the Orange went on their 3-0 run.
Senior Tory Bensen closed her Penn career with four goals – tying Penn’s single-season record for goals with 58. The only other Penn player to score 58 goals in a season was Julie Heller in 1981.
Nina Corcoran had five assists in the game, tying her career high for assists in a game. She finishes the season with 40 assists – a new Penn record.
The Quakers fell behind early on a Kayla Treanor goal 50 seconds into the game, but the Quakers would not let the early concession linger as Penn scored four of the game’s next five goals to lead, 4-2, less than 10 minutes into the game. Catherine Dickinson had two of the goals, while Shannon Mangini and Bensen also scored.
In her final game as a collegian, Mangini showed the form that earned her Ivy League Midfielder of the Year honors in 2013 as she scored three goals. After missing all of 2014 with injury and struggling to regain full health during 2015, Mangini’s effort – two goals in the first half and one early in the second – kept the Quakers in reach.
Syracuse controlled the middle portion of the game, scoring five goal to just one for Penn over 9:09 of game play to turn a 6-6 contest into an 11-7 Orange lead. Dickinson would get one back for Penn on a nice stickwork sequence, picking up her own rebound and giving a half cradle before depositing the ball top corner with 23:40 to play to make it 11-8 Syracuse.
After a Taylor Gait goal with 22:05 to play, Bensen had the next two, scoring twice in six minutes to bring the Quakers within two, at 12-10. That was as close as the Quakers would get, though, as a Treanor goal with 3:32 left put the game out of reach.
The Quakers had chances after Treanor’s final goal, but Kelsey Richardson made two saves inside the final 2:30 of play. Couple those missed opportunities with two posts hit by the Quakers in a span of 25 seconds midway through the second half, and the Quakers can look back knowing they had their chances.
Penn had a great day on the draw, winning 13 to Syracuse’s 11. Brooke Kiley (Germantown Academy), Meg Markham and Natalie Stefan each had three for Penn against an Orange squad which boasted Kailah Kempney who entered the game with 174 draws this season. She had just four in the game, all in the first half.
The Quakers end 2015 with a 14-5 record, the 14 wins tied for fourth-most in a single season by a Penn program.
Notes: In addition to tying the single-season goal record, Tory Bensen finished her Penn career with 141 goals, which is second most in a career … Her 163 points are fifth most in a career … Bensen’s 64 points this season are fourth-most in a single season … Nina Corcoran’s 61 points this season are fourth-most in a single season by a Quaker … Corcoran’s 119 points are 13th all-time by a Quaker … Lucy Ferguson’s 381 saves are fifth all-time by a Quaker.
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