Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/16/20
From Press Releases
Sophia Kolkka (Plymouth Whitemarsh) scored with 46.1 seconds to go to lead the St. Joseph’s women’s lacrosse team to a thrilling 13-12 comeback win over Towson at Sweeney Field on Saturday.
After an early-second half goal extended the visitors’ lead to 10-5, the Hawks kicked things into high gear. Sam McGee (Abington) and Taylor Newman-Farr tallied in succession to get the Hawks within three, but the Tigers would answer 30 seconds later to make it an 11-7 game with 21:24 to play.
Penny Green took over at that point, scoring two goals in a 64-second span before assisting on a third, scored by Riley Delaney (Garnet Valley), to cut the deficit to one at 11-10 with exactly 15 minutes to go.
Bridget Cerciello (Southern Lehigh) tied things up a minute later before Olivia Little (Springfield-Delco) scored her first goal of the season on a free position attempt with 6:30 remaining to give the Hawks their first lead since the middle of the opening half.
Blair Pearre answered for Towson (0-2) three minutes later to tie the game at 12-12 and set up the dramatic finish.
Mikala Davis started things off with a key save with about two minutes to go before the Hawks took possession. Then, with under a minute remaining on the clock, Stephanie Kelly found Kolkka in front of the cage, and she beat Towson’s Sara Tyssowski to put SJU back on top.
“We were just trying to work off the ball, see who was open…Steph is a great lefty driver, and we were just trying to create space, and I just happened to be the person to put the ball in the net,” Kolkka said. “We were not satisfied with the first half, but in the second half, we proved ourselves.”
The Tigers won the ensuing draw, but Julia Pash caused a turnover in the defensive end and the Hawks ran out the clock on the victory.
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Green and Kelly both netted hat tricks on the day, while Cerciello was the only other Hawk with a multi-goal game. In all, eight different players found the net for SJU. Kelly also added two assists to match Towson’s Molly Lynch for the game-high with five points
Drexel 16, Manhattan 8
Redshirt junior Lucy Schneidereith scored a career- and game-high seven goals and Colleen Grady notched four goals for the Dragons.
Karson Harris won game-high eight draw controls and added a goal and two assists and Jamie Schneidereith scored two goals and won three draw controls while freshman Belle McHugh (Academy of Notre Dame) caused a team-high three Manhattan turnovers.
Penn State 13, Lehigh 9
Senior Maria Auth led the Nittany Lion attack with seven points, including three goals and four assists. Junior Sophia Triandafils collected a hat-trick with three goals. Sophomore Mary Muldoon found the net twice, while senior Katie Schluederberg recorded a goal and two assists. Sophomore Lauren Craft, senior Shannon Moore, junior Quinn Nicolai (Moorestown) and senior Kristin Roberto each had one goal.
Freshman Olivia Dirks (Episcopal Academy) won six draws, while fellow rookie Meghan Murray won five. Sophomore Taylor Suplee made 12 saves, her 11th career double-digit save performance.
For Lehigh, Sondra Dickey (Conestoga) had five goals and two assists.
Lafayette 18, Delaware State 6
New head coach Katie McConnell (Holy Cross-NJ) won her first game as a Leopard.
Junior Lizzie O’Brien, who played in just six games over her first two seasons on College Hill, led the Lafayette offense with a career-high four goals, while sophomore Olivia Cunningham (Episcopal Academy) also netted a hat trick with three goals and an assist. Seniors Bella Alampi and Katie DeMarino, junior Anna Stein and freshman Katie Chiasson all netted two goals apiece.
Rutgers 13, Delaware 11
Cassidy Spilis (Seneca-NJ) had four goals for the Scarlet Knights.
Christine Long led the Hens with four goals for her 13th career hat trick while Claire D’Antonio (Moorestown) added her fourth career hat trick by posting three goals.
Amelia Kienzle (Conestoga) finished the game with one goal and two assists.
Cornell 13, Villanova 11
Caroline Allen (Academy of Notre Dame) led a balanced Big Red offense with three goals and an assist.
Katie Comerford led the Wildcats with four goals and Julainne Puckette (Radnor) scored twice.
Yale 16, La Salle 12
Multiple Explorers finished with multi-goal games, including hat tricks from junior Annina Iacobucci (Villa Maria Academy) and freshman Madi McKee (Garnet Valley). Emily Johnston (Ridley) added two goals and six draw controls.