By Ajan Caneda
Staff Writer
The struggles continued for the women’s lacrosse team as the Orange and Blue suffered another hard-fought loss at St. Bonaventure by a final score of 15-13 on Tuesday. The Orange and Blue had a powered offense with Arriana Sajjad ’15 and Madison Hurwitz ’13 each scoring three goals, but the Bonnies were able to prevent another Bison comeback.
Molly Ford ’14 dished an assist to Hurwitz that gave the Bison the first goal of the game. The Bonnies went on to capitalize on free position shots, scoring three goals that jumpstarted a 9-1 run. The Orange and Blue battled back as Claire Switala ’15 and Emily Kookogey ’15 nailed back-to-back goals that narrowed the deficit. Hurwitz closed out the half with a goal off an assist from Ford. St. Bonaventure led 10-5 at halftime.
The momentum carried into the second half as the Bison forced 12 turnovers while holding a 19-12 edge in shot attempts. Katelyn Miller ’14 scored a goal that trimmed St. Bonaventure’s lead to two with 6:49 left in the game, allowing the Orange and Blue a chance for one more run. It would be to no avail as the Bonnies would score at the 3:00 mark and hold the Bison to one goal in the closing minutes of the game.
Last Saturday, the Bison had trouble containing the sound offense of Holy Cross, as the Crusaders pulled off a convincing 20-5 victory in Worcester, Mass. Lindsey Ferro ’14 scored two goals and had one assist in the loss.
The Crusaders showcased their potent offense, starting the game on a 10-0 run. They held the Bison scoreless until the 3:47 mark of the first half, when Miller nailed a goal off the free position. Ferro and Kookogey ended the half with back-to-back goals that cut the lead to 11-3.
Despite a tough outing, goalie Kristina Patrk ’13 learned a lot in her first career start.
“I learned that being a goalie really does require mental toughness beyond that of a field player,” Patrk said. “As a goalie you definitely feed off of the energy and success of your offense and the fact that we weren’t scoring after a great defensive performance definitely had its adverse effects.”
The Crusaders scored two goals to kick off the second half. Midfielder Sophie Kleinert ’14 answered with a goal of her own, off an assist from Ferro, but the offense of Holy Cross would be too much, as the Crusaders would score nine goals in the second half to put the game out of reach.
“It was a tough game, especially since we did not perform to our potential as a team,” Patrk said. “Holy Cross had a couple of great players who were very patient and able to drive effectively one-on-one against our defense.”
The Orange and Blue will look to close out their four-game road trip with a win as they travel to Vestal, N.Y. to take on Binghamton tomorrow.
