Crusaders Finish With Final 3 Goals to Snag 15-13 Win over Huntingdon
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas women's lacrosse team answered an 8-0 scoring streak by Huntingdon College with the final three goals to notch a 15-13 victory on a wet afternoon. This win marks the second in a row for the Crusaders (2-0), which is the first time the program has started a campaign off. It is the first time since 2016 that UD won back-to-back matches.
A big first half saw Dallas go in front 8-1 over the Hawks (0-1), who dropped their season opener. Lexi Leite (Houston, Texas) and Erika Keever (Fort Worth, Texas) combined for 11 goals with Leite leading the way with seven.
The team's leader in points and goals early in the season put Dallas on top with a man-up goal less than four minutes into action. Keever followed in the next minute with another extra-man opportunity score. The Crusaders totaled four goals with an extra player on the field, as Huntingdon was called for five yellow cards – all in the first half.
Leite and Emily Pauletti (Dallas, Texas) posted the next scores to give the home team a quick 4-0 lead. The last goal in the early 10-minute stretch came from Huntingdon's Vanessa Maldonado. Over ten minutes past before Aneliz Rios (San Diego, Calif.) came up with her second collegiate goal in as many games with 10:15 to go in the first stanza.
Dallas was also effective from the free position in the first half, notching five goals in such spots. Leite secured her hat trick with the team's sixth goal, and Keever rounded out the scoring with the last two on free position shots.
The Crusaders allowed three straight goals in the start of the second half. Leite answered back with two of them. Sarah Gamble (Allen, Texas) assisted the latter to give UD a 10-4 advantage.
Up 12-5, frustration began to settle in as the Hawks got hot scoring eight times in a row in just beneath an eight-minute span to gain their only lead of the game. Vanessa Maldonado began the surge with a man-up goal. Shelby Martin garnered a trio of her four goals in that hot streak. Dallas had a goal called back for being offsides, and the team's second yellow card all game would be when HC's Olivia Stinson put in the leading score to make it 13-12 on a free position.
With six to go, Leite put Dallas back on track with a game-tying goal about 20 seconds later. Keever netted the game-winner with 4:05 left. Pauletti tacked on an insurance goal later, but Dallas was able to run the time out by retaining possession the rest of the way.
Lizz Winkler (St. Charles, Ill.) made 14 saves, which included some spectacular stops that prevented Huntingdon evening the game sooner or getting back late.
Dallas held a slight edge in groundballs 31-28 and were successful on 32-of-48 clear attempts. The home side also went 4-for-5 in free position shots compared to 2-of-9 by the Hawks.
Huntingdon was 27-of-42 on clears and boasted a 17-13 edge on draw controls. The guests recorded a 38-32 lead in shots, with eight more (26-18) in the second half.
Maldonado paced the Hawks with five goals followed by Martin's four. Morgan Coppini stopped seven saves in a complete 60 minutes.
SOCIAL MEDIA
#UDCrusaders WIN!
— UDallas Athletics (@UDallasSports) February 10, 2019
- Leite (7 goals, 9-11 SOG)
- Keever (4 goals, 6 GB)
- Winkler (14 saves)
- Cosgrove (5 draw controls, caused TO's)#WeAreUD #d3lax pic.twitter.com/BhW992VzF2
UP NEXT
Dallas concludes its three-game home stand to begin 2019 on February 16 versus Westminster (PA) at 12 p.m.