LAKEWOOD, N.J. - - Georgian Court scored seven of the final eight goals of the game to come back and stun the Wilmington University women's lacrosse team, 12-8, on Tuesday afternoon in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference action on the GCU Turf.
The loss snaps a six-game winning for the Wildcats and gives them their first CACC loss of the season, sitting at 11-3 overall and 5-1 in conference play.
The Wildcats jumped up on the Lions (7-5, 3-1 CACC) in the first two quarters. Makenzie Stritzinger opened the scoring with a goal with 8:40 left in the first quarter. Amelie Gamache broke a 1-1 tie with a goal and the Ella Royer scored to make it a 3-1 game with 4:52 to play in the quarter. Makenzie Stritzinger then capped the first quarter with a goal, as the Wildcats led, 4-2, after the opening 15 minutes.
Stritzinger was at it again to start the second quarter, scoring a man-down goal with 13:25 to play to make it 5-2. But then the Lions fought back, scoring the final three goals of the quarter, the last with 3:30 to play, to make it a 5-5 game at the halftime break. Katie Vindigni made seven saves in the first half, including five in the first quarter.
The Wildcats jumped back in front to start the second half, getting a goal right off the draw from Alea Javorowsky and then a man-advantage goal from Stritzinger to take a 7-5 lead with 7:38 to play in the third quarter. But the Lions answered right back, scoring the final two goals of the quarter to re-tie the contest, 7-7.
Those final two goals of the third quarter started the 7-1 run to end the game, as the Lions opened the fourth quarter with the first two goals as well to take a 9-7 lead. Anastasia Giannoulis scored with 10:56 to play to make it a 9-8 game with a lot of time left. The Wildcats put the next four shots in the board in the game, but Georgian Court goalkeeper Cadence Gentile made three saves to keep the lions in front. After the fourth shot, Georgian Court went down and scored with 6:10 to play, retaking a two-goal lead, 10-8.
Lauren Gresham hit the post with 5:31 to play, and then her rebound chance went wide to keep the Wildcats down two goals.
That seemed to be the final chance for the Wildcats, as the Lions had a successful clear and scored with 3:40 to play and then iced the game with a goal with 27 seconds to play to settle the score, 12-8.
Makenzie Stritzinger led the Wildcats with four goals, five draws, and six ground balls, while Amelie Gamache finished with a goal, an assist, and two draws. Alea Javorowsky finished with a goal and two assists while Ella Royer and Anastasia Giannoulis had one goal each. Eden Ward led the defense with three caused turnovers and three ground balls while Caitlyn Welker and Gamache had two caused turnovers. Katie Vindigni finished with 11 saves.
The Wildcats collected more draws, 13-11, but committed more turnovers, 19-15, in the game.
The Wildcats face another tough competitor their next game, as they welcome defending CACC Tournament champion Dominican to the WU Athletics Complex on Sunday afternoon. The opening draw is set for 12:00 p.m. on Sunday.