Jefferson Hands Women’s Lacrosse 18-11 Loss in CACC Tournament Semifinal

Jefferson Hands Women’s Lacrosse 18-11 Loss in CACC Tournament Semifinal

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - A 5-1 run spanning the halftime break allowed the No. 2 seed and host Jefferson distance themselves from the No. 3 Wilmington University women's lacrosse team, 18-11, in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Semifinals on Friday at Ravenhill Field.

The loss ends the Wildcats' season with a 6-5 record, reaching the CACC Tournament Semifinal round for the second tournament in a row (2019).

Jefferson (11-2) didn't allow the Wildcats to score back-to-back goals until late in the second half, never giving the Wildcats momentum. A 4-1 spurt in the first half put the Rams up 5-2 before the Wildcats closed the gap to 6-4 with 5:59 to play in the first half.

But the Rams scored the final two goals of the half, in a span of 24 seconds, to go into the halftime break leading 8-4.

Makenzie Stritzinger scored the first goal of the second half for the Wildcats, but then the Rams rattled off three straight and five of the next six goals overall to take a 13-6 advantage with 21:18 on the clock.

Juliana Kolakowski converted a free position shot to stop the run, but the Rams answered once again with back-to-back goals to take a 15-7 lead. Makenzie Stritzinger scored an unassisted goal and then Maris Allen and Riley McQuaide scored back-to-back goals to bring the Wildcats to within 16-10 with 7:20 to play.

But that would be as close as they would get the rest of the way, and Jefferson answered with back-to-back goals of their own to stem the tide and keep momentum.

Freshman Riley McQuaide led the Wildcats with three goals and an assist while classmate Amelie Gamache scored two goals and added an assist. Freshman Makenzie Stritzinger scored two goals while Brooke Siebert added two goals as well as a game high eight draws, two ground balls, and one caused turnover. Stritzinger and Gamache led the team with two caused turnovers each. Tori Grubowski made 11 saves in the loss.

With the win, the Rams advance to play top seed and host Georgian Court in the CACC Tournament Championship on Sunday.