LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - - The Wilmington University women's lacrosse team had its first setback of the 2024 season, falling, 14-12, in a tight matchup at Lock Haven on Wednesday afternoon at Charlotte E. Smith Field.
The Wildcats (4-1) found the post five times on Wednesday afternoon, with three of them coming in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats outshot the Bald Eagles (3-0), 33-31, and had more ground balls, 18-16, but only hit on 5-of-14 from the free position arc and narrowly lost the draw batlle,15-14. The Wildcats turned the ball over only 12 times, going 17-for-18 in clear attempts.
The teams traded the first four goals of the game and then Alea Javorowsky and Makenzie Stritzinger scored back-to-back goals in a matter of eight seconds to take a 4-2 lead with 5:14 to play. But the Bald Eagles answered right back with back-to-back goals of their own before Anastasia Giannoulis scored with 10 seconds left in the quarter to give the Wildcats a 5-4 lead.
The teams went back and forth for all six goals in the second quarter, with Riley McQuaide, Amelie Gamache, and Alea Javorowsky all scoring on free-position shots. But Lock Haven had the final goal of the half, coming with 45 seconds left to take the game into the break with the Wildcats leading, 8-7.
Lock Haven scored first in the third quarter, but the teams once again went on the see-saw for the first four goals. Amelie Gamache scored both Wilmington goals, giving the visitors a 10-9 lead with 2:29 to play in the third. Lock Haven answered with the final two goals of the quarter however, scoring in the final second on a free position attempt to take the lead, 11-10.
Gamache tied the game with a goal off a feed from Javorowsky with 13:24 to play and then Makenzie Stritzinger tied it once more, 12-12, with 12:04 to play. Ella Royer hit the post on a free position attempt with 9:00 minutes to play and the Eagles made the clear and eventually took the lead with a free position goal with 6:46 to play. The Eagles scored another with 4:48 to play. The Wildcats had a couple opportunities to cut into the deficit, with Royer hitting another post with 1:03 to play.
Amelie Gamache led the Wildcats with four goals, adding three draws, two ground balls, and two caused turnovers. Alea Javorowsky scored two goals while adding two assists for four points. Ella Royer scored two goals and added an assist, five ground balls, three draws, and three caused turnovers. Makenzie Stritzinger scored two goals and added eight draws. Katie Vindigni made 11 stops in the loss.
Wednesday was the final game of the four-game road trip for the Wildcats, as they return home for a game on Saturday against Shippensburg. The opening draw is set for 12:00 p.m. at the WU Athletics Complex.