Springfield, Mass. – March 30, 2010 – Despite a late second half rally, the Springfield College women’s lacrosse team could not overcome a five-goal deficit as it fell to visiting Amherst, 8-6, on a rainy and windy non-conference contest on Tuesday night.
Amherst ups its record to 4-2, while the Pride now stand at 4-2 this season as well.
The weather played a major role throughout the contest as constant rain and wind limited the scoring action. The teams combined for 41 turnovers as Amherst had 21 miscues and the Pride made 20.
After Allie Horwitz netted her third goal of the game, the Lord Jeffs held a commanding 7-2 advantage with 13:46 remaining in regulation. Just over two minutes later, Erin Doolan netted an unassisted strike which kick started the Springfield offense. Doolan then found Jenn Zubkus in front of the crease for another SC tally with 8:52 on the clock as the Pride made it a 7-4 contest
Amherst’s Marta Randall answered back with a free-position goal at the 5:59 mark for what would prove to be the Lord Jeffs final goal of the game. Doolan once again connected with Zubkus just 23 seconds later as Springfield crawled within striking distance.
Nicole Soucie scored an unassisted goal with 3:17 remaining but that would be as close as Springfield would get as the Lord Jeffs held on for the 8-6 victory.
All of the scoring in the opening half took place in the first 9:12 of the game. Just 56 seconds into the game, Horwitz buried a free position goal to give Amherst a 1-0 advantage. The Lord Jeffs took a 2-0 lead on an unassisted strike by Kathleen Scheld with just over 21 minutes left in the half.
The scoring then picked up as Springfield answered 34 seconds later after Meagan Dobson took a feed from Jackie Moscardelli and found the back of the cage to make it a 2-1 game. Just 20 ticks later, Hannah Walker tallied the final marker of the first half, converting a pass from Kelley Trapp.
Springfield owned a 19-17 advantage in the shot department and used its ride to hold Amherst to just 13-of-22 on clear attempts. The Lord Jeffs dominated the draws, winning 11 of 16 draws for the game.
Zubkus had two goals and an assist, while Doolan tallied one goal and two assists to lead the Springfield scoring. Lauren McAulay made seven saves in goal for Springfield.
For the visitors, Horwitz’s hat trick paced the offensive attack, while Trapp added two assists as the only other multi-point scorer. Lamia Harik was credited with five saves between the pipes.
The Pride is back in action on Thursday evening when it hosts Plymouth State at 6:00 pm.
