NEW CASTLE, Del. - - A second half surge was not enough for the Wilmington University women's lacrosse team as it fell to Millersville, 17-15, for the Wildcats' first loss of the season in their home opener at the Kirkwood Soccer Complex on Tuesday afternoon.
The Wilmington (2-1) outscored Millersville (1-2) in the second half, 8-7, and had the deficit down to a single goal at 16-15 with over four minutes remaining in regulation, but the Wildcats couldn't put the equalizer together in the final minutes.
The Marauders went on a pair of three-goal runs in the first half to extend the lead to as many as four in the opening 30 minutes. With the score tied at 2-2, Millersville tallied three straight in a three-minute span to take a 5-2 lead with 21:11 left in the first half.
Wilmington fired back with three of the next four goals of the contest to bring it back to within one, 6-5. Ashley Kroll scored at the 20:01 mark followed by back-to-back goals by Liz Case and Kory Webster after a Marauder tally to climb back to within one.
But that is when Millersville went on another run, scoring three straight from the 9:57 mark to the 7:40 mark to take its biggest lead of the afternoon. The final goal came on the man-advantage, following a yellow car to Webster.
The Wildcats stopped the run with two goals of their own in the first half, as Case scored her second and third goals of the game to make 9-7 with 1:53 to play in the half. The Marauders kept the momentum in their favor, however, heading into the halftime break, scoring its final goal of the half with 39 seconds on the clock to take a three-goal advantage at halftime.
Millersville opened the second half with a quick goal to push the lead back to four and again held a four-goal lead after Karen Illuminati scored on a free position shot to make it 14-10 with 16:48 to play in regulation.
Wilmington turned up the defense from there on out, turning a turnover by the Marauder's goal keeper Lauren Mateja into a nice pass from Rebekah McCurry to the front of the goal mouth and a goal from Meggan Apgar. Rebecca Guethler cut the deficit to two with her first goal of the game with 13:01 to play.
The visitors held strong however, as they responded with two more goals to keep the Wildcats at an arms' reach.
Following a timeout by first year head coach Jackie Trainer, Apgar earned the draw control and less than a minute later Guethler made it count with her second goal on an assist by Webster. Webster scored 40 seconds later on her own free position shot to make it 16-14.
During the next four minutes of action, Wildcat net-minder Kaitlyn Hall made two free position saves to keep the home team in it. Apgar rewarded her goalie with a goal from Liz Case, closing the gap to 16-15 with 4:24 remaining in regulation.
After Hall made another free position save with 2:50 to play and the score the same, the Wildcats were unable to come up with the loose ball and clear the zone. Illuminati picked up the loose change and rewarded herself with another goal, capping the scoring and the comeback bid, 17-15.
Apgar finished with four marks, as Case collected three goals and an assist to tie Apgar with a team-high four points. Guethler, Webster and Kroll also added two goals apiece in the loss. Kaitlyn Hall recorded 12 saves on the afternoon, but fell to 2-1 on the season.
Mateja made 10 stops for the Marauders', moving to 1-2 in goal on the year. Caitlin Shannon outshined everyone on offense, scoring five goals, while Brooke Fisher and Illuminati finished with three goals each.
The Wildcats will look to get back in the win column on Friday when they travel to Bridgeport for their final nonconference game of the year. The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference schedule will begin on Saturday, as they remain on the road to take on Post.
