Late Rally Comes Up Short as Women's Lacrosse Falls at Millersville, 9-7
Apr. 9, 2007
MILLERSVILLE, Pa. -
After trailing 5-0 in the game's first 14 minutes, the Shippensburg women's lacrosse
team battled back to tie the score twice in the final 15 minutes, but it
was not enough as Millersville held on for a key 9-7 PSAC victory Monday
afternoon at Chryst Field.
The win moves the Marauders (4-5, 4-3 PSAC) into third-place in the conference
standings while the loss snaps a three-game win streak for the Lady Raiders (4-5,
3-4 PSAC) and drops them into a tie for fourth-place in the PSAC at the season's
halfway point.
With the score tied at 6-6 with 10:49 left in the game, Millersville's Elizabeth
Weekley scored on a free position shot to give her team a one-goal lead before
Lauren Ward then scored what proved to be the eventual game-winner with 7:46
to play to give the Marauders a two-goal
advantage.
Freshman Liz DiNunno (Bel Air, Md./Fallston) scored her second goal of the season
with 2:08 remaining to pull Shippensburg back within one, but the Lady Raiders
could not get the equalizer before Weekley added an insurance goal with 25 seconds
left to give Millersville its fourth consecutive win, all in conference play
after it started 0-3.
The Marauders' scored the game's first five goals with three coming from Joann
Caminiti and two from Kelly Kemper.
However, paced by back-to-back goals from its two leading scorers, juniors Kristen
Crutchfield (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) and Kelly Smith (Crownsville, Md./Old
Mill),
Shippensburg would cut into the Marauder lead and trail by only two at halftime,
5-2.
Crutchfield would also have a hand in the Lady Raiders' first two goals of the
second half, assisting on a goal by sophomore Hannah Sperber (Millersville,
Md./Severna
Park) with 20:25 remaining before adding her second goal of the contest less
than three minutes later to pull Shippensburg within one, 5-4.
Junior Katie Irwin (Aston/Cardinal O'Hara) would tie the game for the first time
with 14:50 left, but Kemper would net her third goal of the game only 22 seconds
later to put Millersville back on top.
Prior to Kemper's goal, the Lady Raider defense, which entered the game ranked
sixth in the PSAC in goals against average, held Millersville without a goal
for 32:05, allowing the offense to score five unanswered goals to tie the game.
In goal, Shippensburg freshman Lauren Marron (Macungie/Emmaus) was credited with
five saves while her counterpart, Patty Wesolek, had 11, including seven in the
decisive second half. Saves were really the key statistic in the game as the
two team's were nearly identical in everything else, drawing dead even on shots
(25-25) and draw controls (9-9).
Shippensburg must now face Indiana (Pa.) at home on Thursday in what will be
a pivotal PSAC contest as the two teams are tied for the fourth and final spot
in the PSAC Women's Lacrosse Championship as the second round of conference play
begins. IUP defeated the Lady Raiders at home, 17-13 back on March 21 in Shippensburg's
season-opener.
- Lady Raider Lacrosse -
