April 12, 2008

Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy women's lacrosse team overcame a slow start and dominated the second half to give the Mids an 18-11 victory over Bucknell on Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The win moves Navy's record to 10-3 overall and 3-2 in the Patriot League, and more importantly, clinches a spot in the Patriot League Tournament to be played at a site to be determined on April 25 and 27. Bucknell fell to 5-6 and 1-4 with the loss.

"I am just so proud of this team and what they have accomplished so far this year," said Navy head coach Cindy Timchal. "I thought we really rose to the occasion today and played two solid halves. One of our goals at the start of the year was to make the Patriot League Tournament. We still have a few more games to go, but this is a great accomplishment for this squad."

With the victory, Navy remained undefeated at home with a 10-0 record. With a little help, the Mids could finish as high as the second seed for the upcoming Patriot League Tournament.

A torrential rain fell for most of the contest and Bucknell took advantage early. The Bison scored the game's first three goals in a 2:20 span, before Navy responded with four straight goals, two coming by freshman Meg Decker (Catonsville, Md.) to give Navy a 4-3 advantage with 9:19 to play in the first half.

However, Bucknell responded with three straight goals to grab a 6-4 advantage with 2:31 to play. The Mids would answer with three goals in a 36-second stretch to grab a 7-6 lead into the halftime break. Freshman Katrina Nietsch (New Canaan, Conn.) scored two of the goals while sophomore Erin Rawlick (Forest Hill, Md.) scored once. The Mids then held Bucknell without a shot in the final minute, thanks to a strong defensive effort.

"Those were big goals right before halftime and then we got a huge defensive stand," said Timchal. "It gave us some momentum going into the second half."

With the heaviest rain of the day falling early in the second half, the Mids broke the game open. Navy outscored the Bison, 9-3, in the half's first 20 minutes to take a 16-8 advantage with 10:24 to play. Bucknell would score to trim the lead to 16-9, but sophomore Brittany Amerau (Alexandria, Va.) and Nietsch would thwart any Bison rally with back-to-back tallies for Navy's largest lead of the game at 18-9. Bucknell scored a pair of goals in the final two minutes to cut the final margin to 18-11.

The Mids also turned up the heat defensively on Bucknell's leading scorer, Carol Donohue. Donohue, who entered the game with 49 points (26 g, 23 a), scored two goals and had two assists in the game's first 28 minutes, but went scoreless the rest of the way. Sophomore Brittany Winters (Westland, Mich.) was given the task of slowing down Donohue the rest of the way. Donohue rarely touched the ball in the second half, and Bucknell's offense sputtered.

"We knew they would be really patient coming in and wanting to slow us down," said Timchal. "Early on, they controlled the pace and we wanted to get going up-tempo a little bit. We made some changes defensively and that got our offense in gear as well."

Nietsch led the Mids with a career-best six goals, including four of Navy's seven goals in the first half. She has now produced 35 points (30 g, 5 a) on the season and has tallied five hat tricks on the season.

"We started slow, but we knew what we had to do. We went out and executed our game plan very well today. We had been down before, so the early deficit didn't phase us," said Nietsch. "We are really excited to make the Patriot League Tournament. That was one of our goals at the start of the year."

"Bucknell had no answer for Katrina today," said Timchal. "I couldn't ask for more from a plebe. She, obviously, has things to work on, but she has been solid for us all season long. She had a very strong performance today."

Decker (4 g, 1 a) and Rawlick (3 g, 2 a) added five points each, while Amanda Towey (Smithtown, N.Y.) scored three points (2 g, 1 a).

Natalie Blandon (Rockville, Md.) stopped seven shots in goal.

As a team, Navy outshot Bucknell, 26-24, and won 18 draw controls to Bucknell's 13. The Mids grabbed 14 ground balls to Bucknell's 12. Both teams had 16 turnovers.

Navy will look to wrap up a undefeated home record on Wednesday, as it hosts Robert Morris on Wednesday, beginning at 4:00 pm, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The contest will be the final home game for seniors Natalie Blandon, Amanda Towey, Jessie Rosa and Kaylene Klingenstein. Admission to all Navy women's lacrosse home games is free.

# GO NAVY #