The women’s lacrosse team went 1-2 in the three games they played over spring break. They first lost to the Towson University Tigers and the University of Delaware Blue Hens respectively, but then picked up a win over former Northeast Conference rival, the Sacred Heart Pioneers. MU currently holds a 2-5 record on the year.
Coming off their first win of the season against Wagner, MU first traveled to MD for a tough matchup against the 11th ranked Towson, where they fell 13-5.
“I thought we played well, especially in the first half,” said MU head coach Denise Wescott. “The team stuck to our game plan and the attack worked the ball to create some good shots. Our biggest problem was too many turnovers which created some goals for Towson.”
Fifth-year seniors Cassie Campasano and Stephanie Anderson led the Hawks with two goals a piece while junior Emily Barbieri added a goal of her own. Towson’s Ashleigh Rohrback led all scorers with five goals, and Andi Raymond had a game high of three assists for the Tigers.
In addition to the turnover issue mentioned by Wescott, shots on net were also an issue for the team, with Towson recording 37 compared to only 19 from the Hawks.
The blue and white showed a lot of fight and determination during the first half of play as they twice battled back from multiple goal deficits to get within one.
After falling behind 2-0 in the first 10 minutes, the Hawks cut the lead in half when Campasano scored her first goal of the game, and season, with 14:49 remaining in the period. Two more Towson scores then extended the lead to three, but back-to-back goals from Campasano and Anderson made the score 4-3 with a little over two minutes to go in the first half. Unfortunately for MU, they could not quite get over the hump, and the Tigers managed to find the back of the net once more with 20 seconds left. Towson led by two heading into halftime.
The Tigers came out hot in the second half as they netted three consecutive shots in the first five minutes of the period to give them an 8-3 lead. Despite two straight goals from Barbieri and Anderson, this surge all but put the Hawks away, and the Tigers ended the match by scoring five unanswered goals to seal the victory.
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Four days later, the Hawks lost their second straight game when Delaware doubled MU’s scoring in a 12-6 Blue Hen victory. In similar fashion to their matchup against Towson, the Hawks again played well in the first half before giving up eight second half goals.
Freshman Claudia LaMarca and senior Danielle Rakowitz paced MU with two goals each. Junior Allison Stathius also chipped in with a goal, and Anderson again scored for the Hawks. Caitlin McCartney recorded a game high of four goals while three other UD players scored twice.
Things looked good for the Hawks as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead three minutes in when Rakowitz scored her fifth goal of the season. The Blue Hens weren’t fazed, however, and they responded with their first goal of the game just over two minutes later to even the score.
Both teams managed to pay dirt once more over the next 15 minutes; the score was knotted at two with eight minutes to go in the half. After a foul was called on LaMarca, the Blue Hens were able to successfully capitalize a scoring opportunity and break the tie at the 4:38 mark.
Just a couple minutes later, the Blue Hens built on their lead when McCartney netted one of her four goals, but MU battled back and LaMarca scored her first goal of the contest to send the game to halftime with UD leading 4-3.
The second half was then all Delaware as the Blue Hens scored early and often, and never led by less than two after the 27-minute mark.
“It’s nice to see we can compete with teams in the top 30,” Wescott said after the loss. “The disappointment is that we haven’t won a game like this against a team like this yet. We just need to build more confidence so we can handle competing against teams like Delaware.”
The experience of playing against two powerhouse programs paid off for the Hawks as they were able to get past Sacred Heart relatively easy on Saturday, March 22. With the win, MU ended its two game losing streak and evened its home record to 2-2 for the season.
Rakowitz and Stathius both had big games for the blue and white, with each of them recording four goals. Two other Hawks scored multiple goals on the game as Campasano beat the keeper three times and Barbieri found the back of the net twice. Contrary to the previous two games, the Hawks led in both turnovers and shots on goal. MU managed 34 total shots while turning it over 16 times compared to 20 turnovers and only 18 shots for the Pioneers.
In a fast-paced and exciting first half, MU took control from the opening faceoff and built a dominating 6-0 lead with only 10 minutes gone by in the game. Rakowitz highlighted the six-goal outburst by scoring three times during the stretch, including the first two goals of the game; both of which were unassisted.
SHU did not give in, however, and seized the momentum by responding with three straight goals in less than two minutes of play. The quick spurt cut MU’s lead in half, and brought the score to 6-3 with just under 20 minutes remaining.
Scoring slowed down for the rest of the half, but did not stop completely, as both teams scored two more goals and headed to the locker room with the Hawks holding an 8-5 advantage.
MU dominated from the opening whistle of the second half by scoring seven straight times. This time Stathius led the charge, netting three of the seven goals. However, unlike the first period, this scoring run lasted over 22 minutes and gave MU a 15-5 lead with only seven minutes left in the contest.
The Pioneers managed to score three late goals, but the game was never in doubt for the Hawks and they came away with the 15-8 win.
“It was a team effort today,” explained Rakowitz after the win. “We worked as a team, and we all came together. We really needed this win. Now we’re just trying to build up our W’s and see what comes next.”
The Hawks are now beginning to gear up for conference play, as they are scheduled to make their MAAC debut on Saturday, March 29 against Siena. However, the team still has one more non-conference matchup before they get into conference play when they head to Philadelphia to face Saint Joseph’s University on Wednesday, March 26. Game time is scheduled for 4 pm.
