BOSTON, Mass. – The Saint Joseph's College Women's Lacrosse team used a balance offensive attack to defeat Emmanuel College, 15-14, Wednesday night at Roberto Clemente Field in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action. With the victory, the Monks improve to 8-5 on the year and 4-2 in the GNAC while the loss drops the Saints to 7-3 overall and 4-3 in GNAC play, snapping their four-game conference and five-game home winning streak.
Emmanuel got on the board first when freshman Kristen Tuleja (Mansfield, Mass.) found the back of the net with the help of an assist from sophomore Sarah Wootten (Berlin, Md.) to make it 1-0 with 27:10 left in the half. Over the next 15 minutes Saint Joseph's would rattle off five unanswered goals to take the 5-1 lead with 12:47 left to play in the first half. Junior Cassie Diplock (August, Maine) tied the score at 1-1 before junior Krystal Walsh (Springvale, Maine) gave the Monks their first lead of the game at 2-1 with 24:11 remaining. Sophomore Victoria Tenenbaum (Brunswick, Maine) got into the scoring action with her sixth goal of the season to make it 3-1 and then Walsh netted her second goal of the night to make it 4-1. Sophomore Lizzie Calnan (Westport, Mass.) added to the visitors lead with her eight goal of the year to make it a 5-1 game and force the hosts to burn their first timeout of the action with 12:47 on the clock.
The Saints were able to end the half strong, scoring the final three goals to make it a one-goal game heading into the intermission. Sophomore Madison Altwies (Southington, Conn.) converted on a free-position shot to make it 5-2 at the 11:21 marker and then just 19 seconds later, sophomore Alexia Basile (West Hartford, Conn.) netted an unassisted goal to make it 5-3. Tuleja would find the back of the net again before the end of the half to make it 5-4.
Emmanuel opened the second half just like it did the opening frame as Tuleja scored to even the game at 5-5 with 27:58 left. The Monks answered less than a minute later as Walsh pulled the visitors back on top with her third goal of the contest to make it 6-5. Diplock made it 7-5 just 30 seconds later but Emmanuel answered quickly with a goal from freshman Monica Burdick (Pawcatuck, Conn.) to make it a one-goal game at 7-6 with 26:12 left.
Walsh and Diplock each would score again to make it 9-6 before Altwies got one back to make it 9-7 with 24:17 left in the action.
Back-to-back unassisted tallies by junior Macy Pagurko (Augusta, Maine) increased the Saint Joseph's lead to 11-7 with 19:37 but Altwies and freshman Sarah Higgins got them right back for the Saints to keep the score within two goals at 11-9 with 17:35 remaining.
Diplock would score her fourth goal of the action to make it 12-9 in favor of the Monks before the Saints would again rally to even the score at 12-12. Tuleja scored two in a row to cut the lead the deficit to 12-11 with 10:29 in the action before freshman Christina Vickers (Medford, Mass.) evened the score with an unassisted marker with 9:45 left in the game.
Following a Saint Joseph's timeout, the Monks responded with three consecutive goals to take a 15-12 lead with 6:08 remaining. Junior Anneka Adame (San Diego, Calif.) scored the go-ahead goal with 7:58 on the clock before Pagurko made it 14-12 with 6:24 to play. Adame would net the eventual game-winning goal on a free position shot with just over six minutes left in the action for her 24th goal of the campaign.
Emmanuel made it interesting as Basile converted a free-position shot with 1:35 to play to make it 15-13 and then just 35 seconds later, Altwies made it a one-goal game with a free-position shot of her own to make it 15-14 with 1:00 left.
The Saints were able to regain possession and have a chance to tie but a high shot by Altwies with 27 seconds remaining was denied by Monks junior goalie Haley Nason (Saco, Maine) to preserve the 15-14 victory for the visitors.
Nason ended the night with 14 saves while Emmanuel freshman goalie Lauren White (Lynnfield, Mass.) stopped 17 shots in the losing effort.
Emmanuel will return to on Saturday when they travel to cross-town rival Emerson College for a 1:00 PM GNAC battle while the Monks play the same day, hosting Anna Maria College at 1:00 PM.
COURTESY OF EMMANUEL 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.
