2nd Half Shutout lifts Women's Lacrosse over Wildcats Sunday
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – The University of Dallas women's lacrosse team blanked Johnson & Wales University in the final 31:32 minutes of Sunday's match. The Crusaders (3-10) had battled its opponent to a 5-5 halftime, but then doubled the advantage and allowed no goals to reflect a season-low allowed. Johnson & Wales (0-8) kept the game back-and-forth in the first and scored the game-tying goal prior to intermission. This 10-5 triumph snapped a three-game slide for UD and was the team's first road win of 2017.
NOTABLE STATISTICS
(Individual Notes)
- Lexi Leite (Houston, Texas) notched her fourth hat trick in the past five matches. She added two groundballs, two draw controls, and three caused turnovers.
-Erika Keever (Fort Worth, Texas) extended her goal-streak to the longest one this season (11) with a free position goal at 11:11 in the first half. The second leading scorer finished tied with Leite for goals in the match (3). That hat trick was Keever's fourth and increases her overall total to 25.
- The remaining four goals combined came from a pair by Gwen Mohler (San Francisco, Calif.) and Julia Shinkle (Ewing, N.J.). The duo each posted an assist.
- Mohler now has the team-lead for assists with her 10th, and that mark also ties the single season program record with Christine McFarland (2011) and Hayley Rodgers (2016).
- Olivia Severson (La Crosse, Wis.) earned her first win as a women's lacrosse goalkeeper. She tied yesterday's debut amount of saves (4) in her first start.
- Christiane Flynn (Seattle, Wash.) forced a personal best four caused turnovers and tied a game-high three groundballs. Mason Cosgrove (Las Cruces, N.M.) added three in both categories just mentioned for career-highs in each.
- Johnson & Wales was led by Katie Smith with three goals. Caroline Ellis and Kyra Gangemi each had goals.
- Gangemi led the team in draw controls with three. Elizabeth Cunningham forced three turnovers.
- Hanna Jo Eady made eight saves in 60 minutes between the pipes.
(Team Notes)
- Dallas held a 24-12 advantage in shots. This included a 12-3 edge in the second half.
- Both squads won six draws in the first half, but the Crusaders went 5-1 the remainder of the match.
- UD managed a season-high 20 caused turnovers with 12 players getting at least one.
- The Crusaders committed fewer turnovers (26-18) than their opponent for the fourth time this season. The other contest that happened and was a win was the Carroll University tilt (March 16).
- The Wildcats went 3-for-5 in free position shots and made all of them in the first half.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams traded goals throughout most of the first half. The Wildcats gained the first lead 30 seconds into action on a free position shot from Smith. UD's leading scorer on the season, Leite, responded with the next two goals to give the road team its first lead of the day. Her first was on an assist from Mohler to knot the match with nearly 10 minutes gone by. Her 40th goal of the season occurred about a minute later on a free position and was with a man-up.
Johnson & Wales tied the match at two with Gangemi finding the back of the cage. Both teams held one-goal leads as Keever's first netter made it 3-2. After a pair of goals from JWU to earn a lead change, the Crusaders went back-to-back in the last three minutes before halftime to catch a 5-4 advantage. UD got its second man-up goal as Mohler scored. Shinkle had assisted that play, but then added another point for the go-ahead goal at the time. It was a short lead, as the Wildcats evened things 5-5 on a Smith goal with a minute and a half remaining in the stanza.
In the last 30-minute frame, the Crusaders captured the momentum and never trailed once Leite punched her third goal on a game from Keever about two minutes in. Another quick goal from Shinkle after she won possession on the draw stretched the lead to more than one by both sides on the day.
UD's defense swarmed the Wildcats and kept the home team from being able to get more than three shots off in the half. With dual women's soccer goalkeeper Severson filling for the second day in a row at goalie in her other sport; the Dallas defense worked to disrupt JWU from getting many chances at possessing the ball. The Wildcats only made two successful clears and failed four times. They also turned the ball over 11 times in this half.
Keever claimed the next two goals for the Crusaders to increase the lead and secured the second hat trick by the visitors and third of the game. Her first goal was on the free position, and then Mohler got Dallas to double-digits in goals for the fifth time this season with six minutes remaining.
UP NEXT
Dallas plays its final two matches of the regular season next weekend. On April 8, the Crusaders will go to Illinois Institute of Technology. Start time is slated for 5 p.m. The season concludes the next day with a 12 p.m. match at Elmhurst College.