NEWTON, MA – Saint Joseph's (4-3, 2-0 GNAC) tipped Mount Ida College (1-5, 0-2 GNAC), 13-11, in GNAC women's lacrosse action on Thursday afternoon.
Ahead 11-5 at halftime, Saint Joseph's was held to just two scores in the second half. But the Mustangs, who scored the final five goals of the contest, saw their comeback bid fall short.
In light of the recent tragedy that struck Seton Hill University women's lacrosse this past weekend, the teams honored those lost in this horrible tragedy prior to the game with a moment of silence.
Mount Ida tallied the final five goals of the last 22 minutes of the second stanza unable to capitalize offensively late in the contest to tie it up. The foul totals were eye opening seeing the hosts notch a questionable 53 total fouls for the match while the visitors were only called for 16. The Mustangs struggled to clear the ball out of the zone at 12-20 while the Monks were a near perfect 10-11 on clearing attempts.
For the Monks, junior attacker Macy Pagurko (Augusta, Maine) added four scores on five shots with two ground balls. Junior midfielder Cassie Diplock (Augusta, Maine) added three goals while sophomore midfielder Kirstin McCombs (Lewiston, Maine) handed out a game-high three assists with one tally. Between the pipes for the visitors was junior goaltender Haley Nason (Saco, Maine), who stopped seven Mustang attempts collecting her fourth victory.
Sophomore midfielder Amanda Bowen (Randolph, Vt.) led the Mustangs with four tallies and one assist while junior attacker Molly Sheppard (Brookhaven, N.Y.) added two goals and two helpers. Mount Ida netminder Kayla Musty (Topsham, Vt.) was impressive keeping her team within striking distance with a handful of clutch saves notching 16 for the afternoon taking the loss.
After an opening score from the hosts by freshman attacker Maile Melvin (Hebron, Conn.), the Monks went on to notch the next three markers early in the first half on unassisted bids from Pagurko, Diplock and Adame en route to claiming their first lead at 3-1.
Following another Melvin tally to pull the Mustangs within one (3-2), Saint Joseph's went on to score the next five goals, three from Pagurko and two from Diplock, with 11 minutes remaining before the midway point commanding an 8-2 advantage.
Mount Ida would add two scores immediately following (8-4), only to see the Monks tack on three more to surge ahead 11-4 with two minutes before the halfway horn. Bowen tallied the final goal of the opening frame for the hosts with only a few ticks on the clock making it 11-5 at the break.
The squads went back-and-forth in the early stages of the second half with the visitors leading 13-6 capped on a tally from Monk junior attacker Krystal Walsh (Springvale, Maine). From that point the Mustangs did not surrender a goal, slowly creeping toward the visitors attempting to mount a comeback.
Although the Mustangs posted a valiant effort, Mount Ida was only able to add five scores through the final 22 minutes to ultimately succumb to a 13-11 loss, their second GNAC setback of the season.
Saint Joseph's will play at Maine-Farmington on Monday in a non-league bid starting at 3:30 PM. The Mustangs will host non-conference Framingham State University this Saturday at 3:00 PM.
COURTESY OF MOUNT IDA COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
