Lancers Send ‘Cats to First League Defeat, 14-11, in W. Lax

Saturday, March 20

Davidson, N.C.

1:00 p.m.

Davidson College

Longwood

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Lancers Send ‘Cats to First League Defeat, 14-11, in W. Lax

3/20/2010 4:31:58 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Gavin McFarlin -- Assistant SID

Box Score
Game Highlights

DAVIDSON, D.C. — Freshman Alanna Parker had her fifth straight multi-goal game, but the Longwood Lancers held off the Davidson Wildcats with two late goals to earn a 14-11 decision on Saturday afternoon in a key National Lacrosse Conference game in Richardson Stadium.

Parker netted four goals, getting three of them in the second half, but Davidson's comeback fell short as the 'Cats (4-5, 2-1 NLC) saw their three-game win streak come to an end. The freshman took over the team lead with 29 points (21 gls./8 asts.) after her four-goal outing. She has tallied 12 of her 21 goals in the last three games.

Trailing 12-7 after a Jess Rudloff goal for the Lancers with 16:36 remaining, Davidson got to within three, 13-10, with goals from Haley Cook (free-position shot), Parker, and Anna Smith (free-position shot), over the next eight minutes. Smith came off the bench to net two goals, both on free-position shots, and assist on another.

Goals though by Carlie Nethken and Morgan Illian, which came at the 1:53 mark, helped maintain the Lancers lead as they moved to 2-0 in league play and 3-4 overall.

Cara O'Brien paced Longwood with four scores, including back-to-back goals in the first half that gave the Lancers the lead for good at 4-2 with 12:12 left in the half.

Karli Brentlinger and Amanda Bereznay each tossed in a pair of goals, while six other Lancers had single goals. Page Farmer had a game-best three assists to go along with a score. She assisted on the first goal of the game, and then helped give Longwood a six-goal cushion (11-5) when she assisted on O'Brien's and Bereznay's goals at the 19:23 and 18:55 marks of the second half.

After Davidson fell behind 2-0 when Longwood struck twice with just 1:30 gone off the clock to start the game, Jen Crawford and Parker tied things up with free-position goals at the 24:59 and 21:32 marks. The 'Cats first three goals came on free-position shots as they went 6-of-10 for the game. In the last two games, Davidson is a combined 12-of-18 in free-position shots.

Smith brought the score to 4-3, but the Lancers proceeded to go on a four-goal run to close out the half and held an 8-3 lead at halftime.

Davidson cut the lead down to four at 9-5 to start things off in the early part of the second half. Smith had a nice feed into Jenna Mugele, who netted her ninth score of the season, while Parker picked up her 19th goal.

Both teams scored twice over the next four minutes, including Lindsay Cooper recording her first collegiate goal, to setup the final chance for Davidson. The Wildcats did outscore Longwood, 8-6, in the second half.

Longwood held a 36-26 advantage in shots and picked up 19 groundballs to the 'Cats 13. Cook picked up a team-high four groundballs to give her 14 on the season.

Nethken had four groundballs and four draw controls to pace Longwood.

Crawford had four of Davidson's 13 draw controls, while three different players (Cook, Lily Graham and Taylor Ketcham) forced a turnover. Longwood had just 12 turnovers compared to Davidson's 21.

In goal, Michelle Pav was credited with a career-high 12 saves. Juli Liebig and Eliza Coughter split time in goal for Longwood, combining for seven saves.

The Wildcats will hit the road for its next game, playing at Virginia Tech on Wednesday, Mar. 24, at 4 p.m.