Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University women's lacrosse team found itself on the wrong end of a hard-fought one-goal game, falling 16-15 to visiting Mount Ida College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) matchup Saturday afternoon at Sabine Field.
The Cadets fall to 4-5 overall and 2-5 in the GNAC while the Mustangs improve to 3-10 and 3-5 in the conference.
Senior Gina Conroy (Amherst N.H.) scored a team-high four goals while sophomore Meaghan Albert (Lanesborough, Mass.) and freshman Teresa Segreti (Salisbury Mills, N.Y.) netted three goals each. Sophomore Chapel Guarnieri (Pepperell, Mass.) would put in a pair of goals with an assist, while teammate Holly Lutz (Hamburg, N.J.) recorded a goal for the Maroon and Gold.
For the Mustangs, sophomore Rebecca Beaulieu (Weare, N.H.) would lead the squad with five goals, while senior Amanda Bowen (Randolph, Vt.) and freshman Hayley Napier (Fairhaven, Mass.) each netted four goals and added a pair of assists to the box score. Junior Samantha Basler (Plymouth, Mass.) would round out the scoring category with three goals for Mount Ida.
Norwich would score 29 seconds into the opening draw from Albert before Mount Ida tied it up 20 seconds later before adding two more goals in just three minutes for the 3-1 lead. After a Mustang foul, Hope Royce (Washington, Vt.) would take the free position attempt that resulted into Norwich's second goal to cut the deficit to one with 23:41 remaining in the first half.
The Mustangs would convert two of their free position attempts into goals for the 5-2 lead before Conroy scored at the 11:22 mark unassisted as the Cadets trail 5-3. Mount Ida would score five straight goals in the next 11 minutes to extend its lead to 10-3 at the break.
The second half would see Mount Ida posting its 11th goal of the game three minutes into the opening draw before Norwich would score twice from Conroy and Royce to make it 11-5 with 24:03 remaining in the game. Both teams would trade goals five times in the next of 12 minutes with the Mustangs still ahead, 16-9, with 8:47 on the clock.
The Cadets would score back-to-back goals from Guarnieri connecting with Conroy for the assists to start the comeback. Trailing 16-11 with 8:25 to play, NU would attack hard and often, scoring five straight goals, two of them being free position goals, to make it a one-goal game, 16-15, with 1:58 remaining. Mount Ida would win on the draw, only to turn it over quickly. The Cadets looked to take advantage of the opportunity, but struggled to get the ball into the offensive end, throwing it away as well. The Mustangs settled down on their offensive end of the field and looked to shoot point-blank range, only to watch the ball land into Norwich goalkeeper Irene Okubo's (Chicago, Ill.) stick. The Cadets would quickly call for time to set up a final play to tie the game. After the break, Norwich looked to Conroy to make the shot for the equalizer with 28 seconds, but the shot would be stopped into Mount Ida Sydney Fredette's (Hudson, Mass.) stick as the Mustangs ran time off the board for their second conference win of the season.
Mount Ida outshot Norwich 33-28, but the Cadets held a 34-27 ground ball advantage and scored five goals off of the seven free position attempts to the Mustang's 2-of-6.
Junior netminder Courtney Hudson (Burke, Va.) would come up with five saves on 13 shots in the first 25 minutes of the game before being replaced by Okubo, who came up with seven saves on 15 shots faced in the loss. Fredette would play all 60 minutes in between the pipes for Mount Ida, coming up with eight saves on the 23 shots faced.
Prior to today's game, four seniors; Royce, Conroy, Emma Smith (Patterson, N.Y.), and Daniella Vitale (North Smithfield, R.I.), were recognized for their contributions to the program.
The Cadets are back in action on Monday, April 13 when against Rivier University for the 7:00 p.m. contest. The Mustangs will be in action on Wednesday, April 15 as they host Becker College in a non-conference matchup for the 6:30 p.m. draw.
