MANCHESTER, N.H. – Freshman Caitlin Villareal (Portsmouth, R.I.) and sophomore Kelly Pickett (Chelmsford, Mass.) each notched three goals, but the Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team was clipped by seventh-ranked Le Moyne College, 12-11, at Grappone Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Hawks dip to 9-5 on the season, including 6-4 in Northeast-10 play, while the Dolphins win their ninth straight and improve to 11-2, 9-1 NE-10.
With her team trailing 2-0 early on, Villareal registered an unassisted tally to slice the Saint Anselm deficit in half just 2:30 into the contest. Claire Monnat expanded Le Moyne's lead to 3-1 at the 23:57 mark, but Villareal responded with a pair of free-position goals that knotted that game at three with 18:00 on the clock.
Sophomore Marissa Daly (Marshfield, Mass.) beat Le Moyne goalkeeper Molly Marbut 12 seconds later off a feed from Pickett and the Hawks had their first lead of the afternoon at 4-3. After Jennifer Fabian's free-position tally tied that game at 16:50, free-position scores from Pickett and freshman Michelle Kudlate (Waltham, Mass.) gave Saint Anselm its largest lead of the contest at 6-4 with 10:48 remaining in the opening half.
Le Moyne answered with a goal from Monnat 2:05 later and then received scores from Fabian and Kelly Condon in the final minute to take a 7-6 lead into the break.
After Brenna Bauer began the second-half scoring just 1:12 in, Pickett matched that to keep it a one-goal game just under a minute later. The Dolphins extended the lead to two once again, but a free-position score from sophomore Sarah Doherty (Franklin, Mass.) and a Daly goal off a nifty pass from sophomore Kaitlyn Stazinski (Pembroke, Mass.) equalized the game at 9-all with 22:29 left.
Pickett answered a Bauer tally to keep it tied, 10-10, at the 11:17 mark, but goals from Fabian and Kathleen Conese opened up a 12-10 lead with 6:20 left. Sophomore goalkeeper Allee Ramzi (Cumberland, R.I.) faced a flurry of six shots over a nearly four-minute stretch before Conese finally broke through on the free position. Doherty cut it to one with an unassisted goal with 2:01 left. The Hawks won the ensuing draw control and had a shot a free position to tie it, but Marbut came up with the stop and Le Moyne got the ball back and ran out the clock.
Ramzi made 10 saves, including seven in the second stanza, while Marbut stopped seven shots.
Le Moyne held a 32-23 advantage in shots and captured 17 of 30 draw controls. The Hawks were 5-for-10 on free-position chances, while the Dolphins were 5-for-11.
The Hawks return to action Tuesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. when they play host to Stonehill College in their home finale at Grappone Stadium on Senior Night. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter @STAHawks.
