March 9, 2008
Box Score
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Amanda Towey and Erin Rawlick each scored five points in leading the Navy women's lacrosse team to an 18-6 victory over Saint Mary's (Calif.) on a blustery Sunday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Mids run their record to 5-0 with the win, while the Gaels fall to 0-5 overall.
"I thought we played well for the most part against an aggressive team," said Navy head coach Cindy Timchal. "It's tough playing on back-to-back days and it showed in the second half. We got a little bit sloppy, but for the most part we played through it."
For just the second time all season, Navy trailed early on, as the Gaels scored the game's first goal just over a minute into the contest.
However, Navy answered by tallying the game's next 12 goals. Four different Navy players scored a pair of goals in the run, led by senior Kaylene Klingenstein's three goals. Rawlick, Towey and freshman Katrina Nietsch each scored a pair during the run.
During Navy's run, it scored goals in bunches, tallying consecutive goals 12, 22, 26, 43 and 19 seconds apart. The Mids led 12-2 at halftime.
Saint Mary's scored three of the first four goals in the second half to cut the lead to 13-5, but Navy answered with a five-goal run of its own for an 18-5 advantage with 12:33 to play. Freshman Meg Decker and Nietsch scored twice for the Mids, while Towey rounded out her first hat trick of the season, scoring Navy's final goal of the contest with 12:33 to play.
Saint Mary's Alana Burrough tallied the game's final score of the game with 10:40 to play to bring the final margin to 18-6.
Towey scored three goals with two assists on the afternoon, while Rawlick, who leads the team with 29 points (20 g, 9 a) scored twice and dished out a career-high three assists. Nietsch tallied a career-high four goals, while Decker contributed four points (3 g, 1 a). Klingenstein netted her third hat trick of the season. Brittany Amerau and Mary Ruttum scored once for the Mids, while Valerie Cappelaere dished out an assist.
The Mids outshot Saint Mary's, 28-21, and won 17 draw controls to the Gaels' nine. The Mids had 20 turnovers to Saint Mary's 26, and went 5-of-8 on free-position shots. Saint Mary's was just 1-of-4.
Navy will now turn its focus to Patriot League play as defending champion Holy Cross comes to Annapolis next Saturday, for a noon start. The game, which will be played at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, is the first Patriot League game played by the Navy women's lacrosse program.
"We are obviously excited to get the Patriot League season underway," said Timchal. "It will be interesting to see how we match up and I know the girls are ready to get into league action."
# GO NAVY #
