Women's Lacrosse drops Season Opener at Puget Sound
TACOMA Wash. – The University of Dallas women's lacrosse team dropped its season opener at University of Puget Sound on Saturday in a 16-11 final. First-year head coach Destinee Johnson's team played even with Puget Sound (1-0) in the first half. Deadlocked 8-8, the remaining 30 minutes proved too difficult for the Crusaders as they were outscored 8-3.
NOTABLE STATISTICS
(Individual Notes)
- Lexi Leite (Houston, Texas) led UD's offense with three goals and an assist. Last season's leading scorer posted a team-high five shots (4 on cage).
- Claire Gagliano (Peachtree, Ga.) tied second on the afternoon in points (4) thanks to a pair of goals and assists. She won four draw controls and added three groundballs and two caused turnovers.
- Erika Keever (Fort Worth, Texas), and Julia Shinkle (Ewing, N.J.) each contributed multiple goals. Shinkle was the other player to win four draw controls for Dallas.
- Katie Crnkovich (Walnut Creek, Calif.) made her collegiate debut by winning three draws and scoring a goal.
- Lizz Winkler (St. Charles, Ill.) picked up 16 saves against 32 shots faced in her college debut at goalie.
- The Loggers were led offensively by Meghan Bacher and Roxanne Krietzman with five goals apiece. Ella Frazer tallied four goals on as many shots.
- Kathryn Hard picked up seven groundballs and caused five turnovers, which both were game-highs.
- Charlotte Donnelley earned the win in the cage with three saves in 60 minutes.
(Team Notes)
- Dallas allowed a 10-point margin in groundballs (31-21). Puget Sound was 17-12 in draw controls.
- Dallas did go 1-for-3 in free position shots compared to 0-for-4 by the Loggers.
- The Crusaders notched 11 successful clears, while Puget Sound had 14. Both sides were unsuccessful three times.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Frazer netted the first goal of the match three and a half minutes from the first draw. The first four goals went to the home team, with Bacher firing the final two of that early surge through 19:40.
Shinkle ended the shutout bid and claimed the first Dallas goal of the 2017 season about a minute later. After another Bacher goal for her hat trick, the Crusaders answered back with Leite finding the back of the next on an assist from Patty Hahn (Plano, Texas). Bacher produced her 4th consecutive goal for Puget Sound to re-extend the edge to four points (6-2).
The last 13 minutes of the first half belonged to Dallas, as the road squad engineered a 6-2 scoring swing to make it even at intermission. Leite and Gagliano scored within a minute of each other, and Leite assisted Gagliano's first goal of the season. The Loggers countered a goal back to make it 7-4 at 10:54, but then Crnkovich posted her first collegiate point a couple seconds later. Shinkle had caused a turnover and picked up the groundball prior to that sequence.
Dallas then scored three-of-four goals to close the last 8:14 out in the first. Down two still with five minutes, Gagliano nipped the gap to 8-7 with 3:18 and then Shinkle launched her second goal of the half with eight ticks on the clock.
In the second half, Keever scored with UD down a man and on the lone free position shot made all game by either side to cut it to 11-9. The Loggers offense was too difficult as a 19-6 shot edge in the second stanza helped build a 35-16 difference overall. After scoring the first three goals of the half, Puget Sound answered Keever's goal with a pair from Frazer. Keever then posted the second UD goal in a row before Gwen Mohler (San Francisco, Calif.) went back-to-back with 12 minutes remaining. Gagliano logged another helper to cut it 13-11, but the Crusaders' offense could not get over the margin. The Loggers scored the final three unanswered to secure its season-opening victory at home.
UP NEXT
Dallas plays Linfield College tomorrow at the neutral site Puget Sound. First draw is at 12 p.m. (PST).