NEWARK, Del. - - Following a timeout with 11:57 and the score knotted at 3-3 in the first half, the Wilmington University women's lacrosse team scored six of the final seven goals in the first half before rolling to a 19-6 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory over Chestnut Hill at the WU Athletics Complex on Tuesday afternoon.
The win was extra sweet for the Wildcats (2-10, 2-4 CACC) as they redeemed themselves from an 18-8 loss at the hands of Chestnut Hill (2-9, 2-5 CACC) earlier in the season. The Wildcats tallied nine assists to go with their 19 goals, spreading the ball around and often working a two-man game from behind the net.
After the halftime break, the teams split goals to start the second stanza then the Wildcats went on a 5-0 run over a 5:01 span to grab ahold of the game for good. Wilmington finished the second half outscoring the Griffins, 10-2.
Rebekah McCurry tied the game at 3-3 with her second goal of the game with 11:57 to play and head coach Jackie Trainer used her first timeout to give her team a breath with the 80 degree heat and even hotter on the turf. Following the break, Liz Case received a feed from Megan Keffer for her first goal of the game only 12 seconds later.
Chestnut Hill responded with a goal at the other end, but then Keffer took the draw control and fed it to Case who promptly passed it to Molly Taylor who scored only 12 seconds after the Griffins tied the game. Taylor's first goal of the game proved to be the game-winner as the Wildcats never relinquished the lead.
Keffer followed with her second goal of the game while Taylor, Brittany Rhodes and Penelope Fantis finished off the half with goals to take a 9-4 lead into the break.
Taylor finished her hat trick with the first goal of the second half, receiving a feed from Jessica Stratton only a minute into the half. The Wildcats once again responded to a Chestnut Hill goal with a big run, scoring five straight to turn a 10-5 game into a 15-5 route with 22:38 left in regulation.
McCurry started the rally with her third goal of the game at the 27:39 mark before Rhodes added her second goal two minutes later. Moments later, Stratton picked up a draw control and moved the ball ahead to Case. Case quickly buried the shot to put the Wildcats up 13-5 only 22 seconds later. Moments later, Keffer recovered the ensuing draw and raced towards the net with a 2-on-1 with Case. Case took the pass and scored back-to-back goals in only 10 seconds to put the Wildcats up 14-5.
Alli Sain finished off the five goal rally with her second of the year, scoring the goal at the 22:38 mark to give the Wildcats five goals in only 5:01 of game action.
McCurry and Case led the Wildcats with four goals each while Case added six assists for 10 points. It is the second straight game that Case has tallied double figure points, as she set a program record on Saturday for 11 points against Nyack.
Taylor and Rhodes added three goals each while Keffer scored two goals and added two assists and led the team with eight draw controls to keep the ball in the Wildcats possession. Chelsie Maher, Fantis, and Sain rounded out the Wilmington goal scoring, each tallying one goal.
Kaitlyn Hall needed to make four saves for the win, lowering her season's goals against average to 14.42 after only allowing four goals on Saturday as well.
Tuesday was the final home game in the 2013 season for the Wildcats, as they will take to the road for their final five games. The team has four CACC games left and sit two games behind Holy Family in the South Division after the Tigers fell to Philadelphia on Tuesday. Wilmington and Holy Family square off on Thursday in Philadelphia. Opening draw is scheduled for 4 p.m.
