Crawford's Five Goals Lift Wildcats to 17-10 Win
8/23/2007 9:51:08 PM | Women's Lacrosse
Lauren Biggers - Assistant SID
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Freshman attacker Jen Crawford scored a team season-high five goals to lead the Davidson Wildcats lacrosse team to a 17-10 win over St. Mary's College on Tuesday evening at Richardson Stadium. Davidson improves to 1-8, while St. Mary's falls to 2-8 with the loss.
"It was great to get that monkey off our backs," said head coach Betsy Economou, who earned her first win with Davidson. "We have worked so hard for the last four games. It was something that we talked about before the game, and it was great for all of that effort to pay off with a win."
Sophomore midfielder Becky Horton added four goals, and junior midfielder Emily Palmer scored three. Junior midfielder Kelly Finnigan (2), junior attacker Emily Diefendorf, junior midfielder Sarah Walter and senior attacker Alex Eagan also got involved in the scoring for Davidson. Walter also had a pair of assists, and freshman attacker Haley Cook posted one.
Junior keeper Laura Johnson picked up the win for the 'Cats, getting three saves in 35 minutes.
P.J. Hainley and Jackie Spencer each scored three goals for the Gaels, while Sara Jo Rodriquez took the loss for St. Mary's in the cage with seven saves in 30 minutes.
Davidson led the entire way and controlled the game on every level, winning 16 draws to 13 for the Gaels and taking 43 shots to St. Mary's 23. The Gaels finished with 26 turnovers, while Davidson committed 22.
"Although we were up, I wasn't all that impressed with our play in the first half," Economou said. "But I thought we came out much better in the second half. We did a much better job of winning the draws and controlling possession of the ball, which was something that we had talked about as one of the key points of the game so it was good to see us execute."
Finnigan started the scoring for the 'Cats on quick pass from Walter with 27:38 on the clock, giving Davidson a lead it would never relinquish. Horton added the first of her four goals just two minutes later, before St. Mary's Sonja Kapusta connected on a pass from Jen Utley. Utley scored with 22:57 left in the first half to knot the score at two, but St. Mary's would get no closer.
Davidson answered the challenge with three straight goals, as Horton reclaimed the lead for the 'Cats at 21:29. Crawford's first goal a couple of minutes later and Diefendorf's putaway of a pass from Walter pushed Davidson's lead to 5-2 with 15 minutes left in the first half.
"Becky and Jen did a great job of finishing for us tonight," Economou said. "I thought our attackers were a lot better with their decision making."
Utley busted up the Wildcat scoring streak with ten minutes left to play in the period, but Davidson again answered with four straight goals to take a commanding 9-3 lead. Crawford scored her second goal on a free position shot - followed by goals from Palmer and Horton separated by just seconds - and her third gave Davidson a 9-3 lead.
St. Mary's Hainley scored with 59 seconds remaining in the first to send the Gaels into the break trailing 9-4. Alana Burrough and Spencer opened the second with back-to-back goals for St. Mary's, cutting Davidson's lead to 9-6 and making things interesting. Crawford's fourth goal kept the Gaels from getting any closer, but Spencer scored on a pass from Abbie Coleman to again put St. Mary's in reach at 10-7.
Finnigan got one back before two straight scores from Palmer pushed the 'Cats lead back to 13-7, essentially securing the victory with 8:34 left. Scores from Spencer and Hainley were negated by scores from Eagan and Crawford in the final minutes of play, before Crawfords' fifth, final and most spectacular goal came as she deflected an attempted pass from goalie Hilary Gardner into the net with 3:33 left. Hainley scored the final goal for the Gaels with just over three minutes left, but Walter and Horton had the last word for the 'Cats, delivering the 17-10 victory.
"It was a good win for us," Economou said. "It was nice to get everyone in the game. It's always nice to get a win as a team unit."
Davidson will return to action on Thursday night, hosting Pfeiffer at 7 p.m. at Richardson Stadium.
"It was great to get that monkey off our backs," said head coach Betsy Economou, who earned her first win with Davidson. "We have worked so hard for the last four games. It was something that we talked about before the game, and it was great for all of that effort to pay off with a win."
Sophomore midfielder Becky Horton added four goals, and junior midfielder Emily Palmer scored three. Junior midfielder Kelly Finnigan (2), junior attacker Emily Diefendorf, junior midfielder Sarah Walter and senior attacker Alex Eagan also got involved in the scoring for Davidson. Walter also had a pair of assists, and freshman attacker Haley Cook posted one.
Junior keeper Laura Johnson picked up the win for the 'Cats, getting three saves in 35 minutes.
P.J. Hainley and Jackie Spencer each scored three goals for the Gaels, while Sara Jo Rodriquez took the loss for St. Mary's in the cage with seven saves in 30 minutes.
Davidson led the entire way and controlled the game on every level, winning 16 draws to 13 for the Gaels and taking 43 shots to St. Mary's 23. The Gaels finished with 26 turnovers, while Davidson committed 22.
"Although we were up, I wasn't all that impressed with our play in the first half," Economou said. "But I thought we came out much better in the second half. We did a much better job of winning the draws and controlling possession of the ball, which was something that we had talked about as one of the key points of the game so it was good to see us execute."
Finnigan started the scoring for the 'Cats on quick pass from Walter with 27:38 on the clock, giving Davidson a lead it would never relinquish. Horton added the first of her four goals just two minutes later, before St. Mary's Sonja Kapusta connected on a pass from Jen Utley. Utley scored with 22:57 left in the first half to knot the score at two, but St. Mary's would get no closer.
Davidson answered the challenge with three straight goals, as Horton reclaimed the lead for the 'Cats at 21:29. Crawford's first goal a couple of minutes later and Diefendorf's putaway of a pass from Walter pushed Davidson's lead to 5-2 with 15 minutes left in the first half.
"Becky and Jen did a great job of finishing for us tonight," Economou said. "I thought our attackers were a lot better with their decision making."
Utley busted up the Wildcat scoring streak with ten minutes left to play in the period, but Davidson again answered with four straight goals to take a commanding 9-3 lead. Crawford scored her second goal on a free position shot - followed by goals from Palmer and Horton separated by just seconds - and her third gave Davidson a 9-3 lead.
St. Mary's Hainley scored with 59 seconds remaining in the first to send the Gaels into the break trailing 9-4. Alana Burrough and Spencer opened the second with back-to-back goals for St. Mary's, cutting Davidson's lead to 9-6 and making things interesting. Crawford's fourth goal kept the Gaels from getting any closer, but Spencer scored on a pass from Abbie Coleman to again put St. Mary's in reach at 10-7.
Finnigan got one back before two straight scores from Palmer pushed the 'Cats lead back to 13-7, essentially securing the victory with 8:34 left. Scores from Spencer and Hainley were negated by scores from Eagan and Crawford in the final minutes of play, before Crawfords' fifth, final and most spectacular goal came as she deflected an attempted pass from goalie Hilary Gardner into the net with 3:33 left. Hainley scored the final goal for the Gaels with just over three minutes left, but Walter and Horton had the last word for the 'Cats, delivering the 17-10 victory.
"It was a good win for us," Economou said. "It was nice to get everyone in the game. It's always nice to get a win as a team unit."
Davidson will return to action on Thursday night, hosting Pfeiffer at 7 p.m. at Richardson Stadium.
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