Box Score
TOWSON, MD - Westfield State went on a 5-0 run late in the first half and never looked back, holding off College of Notre Dame by a 14-12 score Saturday afternoon in a non-conference women's lacrosse matchup. Notre Dame drops to 1-2 early in its 2010 campaign while Westfield State improved to 2-1 with the victory.
Saturday's game was played at Goucher College's Beldon Field, which has a turf playing surface due to Notre Dame's Alumnae Field (grass) being unplayable due to heavy rain throughout the day.
The Owls rattled off three goals in the opening 2:35, including two goals by Laura Chiricosta to take the early lead. Notre Dame returned the favor with three goals of its own, two from senior Lauren Terry (Towson, MD/Catholic) to make the score 3-3 with 18:36 to go in the opening half.
After an Owl goal, sophomore Ashley Cumberland (Baltimore, MD/Kenwood) and senior Ashley Demski (Parkville, MD/Loch Raven) scored just over a minute apart to give the Gators the lead at 5-4 with 16:20 remaining in the first half.
Notre Dame's lead would last just 2:16, as Rachel Dionne knotted the score at five off an assist from Chiricosta. Westfield State went on to score four more unanswered goals to push the score to 9-5. Freshman Allison Terry (Towson, MD/Catholic) was able to get one back to pull the Gators within 9-6 at the half.
Allison Terry scored the first goal of the second half, but two more Westfield State goals made the score 11-7 with 21:01 remaining. Notre Dame would once again rally with three straight goals, two by Lauren Terry and the third by Rachel Jones (Westminster, MD/Westminster) to make the score 11-10. However, that is as close as the Gators would get the rest of the game, as the Owls would close out the final 13:33 by scoring three of the final five goals en route to the 14-12 win.
Allison Terry and Lauren Terry each had four goals to pace the Gators. Freshman Molly Murray (Aberdeen, MD/Aberdeen), Jones, Demski and Cumberland rounded out the Notre Dame scoring with a goal a piece. Freshman Kelsey Kempf (Huntingtown, MD/Huntingtown) led Notre Dame with four ground balls.
Dionne led Westfield State with four goals while Chiricosta and Carly Keeley finished with three goals each. Chiricosta also contributed three assists in the win for the Owls.
Emily Langton (Mays Landing, NJ/Holy Spirit) finished with 10 saves in goal for Notre Dame, while Britta Anderson made 11 saves to earn the win in net for Westfield State.
Westfield State held a slight edge in draw controls by a 15-13 margin, while Notre Dane committed 24 turnovers to Westfield State's 23 in the game. Shots were also nearly even, with the Owls having a 32-31 edge over the Gators.
The Owls return to action when the play at Mount St. Mary's (N.Y.) College on Monday at 7:00 p.m.
