Caroline Grier
Sports Editor
Despite an overtime loss to conference rival Haverford College this past Wednesday, the Shorewomen lacrosse team rebounded with a strong win over conference foe Ursinus College 9-5. In the game, the ladies trailed the Fords in the first half. After halftime however, the Shorewomen went on a three-goal spree to take the lead 6-5 with 20 minutes to go.
Junior attacker Sarah Cannon, freshman midfielder Mollie Shipley, and sophomore midfielder Rachel Bartee each scored for Washinton College. The ladies then scored an additional two goals to raise the score to 8-6. The Fords scoredthree uncontested goals of their own to put them ahead 9-8. Cannon would score the final goal of the game with 20.5 seconds left to force overtime. Although WC maintained the final possession of the overtime period, down by one, the ladies could not get a shot off in time.
On Saturday, the women returned to action to face Ursinus College. The Shorewomen raced to a 4-2 lead by the half, paced by freshman attacker Corinne Ziccardi’s two goals. The ladies would take the final lead in the second when they scored four uncontested goals to make it 8-3. Bartee, Shipley, senior midfielder Allie Hanzsche, and junior midfielder Sam Ohrem each scored a goal in the 4-0 run. Ursinus would then score a lone goal with five minutes left. However, Cannon would have the last goal of the game making the final score 9-5. Junior goalie Amber Madore paced the Shorewomen with 12 saves in the win.
Coach Julika Blankenship said that, “We knew that in order to beat Ursinus we were going to have to slow the game down and take a lot of time with the ball. Possession would be key to our success and that is exactly what we did. Aside from a few spurts of chaos, we controlled the tempo of the game and forced Ursinus to adjust to our style of play. We were successful offensively because of our decision making and the fact that Ursinus runs a similar defense to ours and we knew how to break it. Right now my players understand that every single possession matters more than the one before and that is how we are playing every game.”
As for the remainder of the season, Blankenship and the team have their eyes set on the Conference Playoffs.
“The conference tournament is where we need to be…and we are confident that we will be there,” said Blankenship.
The ladies have three conference games remaining on their schedule. One of them is this Saturday as the team faces off with #4 Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster.