April 9, 2008
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Erin Rawlick scored eight points and six other Mids tallied at least two points in helping Navy to a 19-5 victory over Howard on Wednesday afternoon. The win moves Navy's record to 9-3 overall, while Howard falls to 1-8.
Navy remained undefeated at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, posting a 9-0 mark and winning the nine games by a combined margin of 94 goals.
"It was good to get back on track after the weekend. It was especially important to get everyone in the game and it was nice for the players that haven't played a whole lot to see a lot of action," said Navy head coach Cindy Timchal. "We can take all the good things we did in this game and hopefully take them into Saturday's game with Bucknell."
Navy jumped out to a 5-1 advantage 11 minutes into the contest, but Howard scored a pair of goals in an 18-second span to trim the Navy margin to 5-3.
The Mids then blew the game open in the last minute of the first half. Holding a 9-3 lead, Navy scored four goals in a 35-second span, including two by Rawlick, to take a 12-3 lead into the halftime break.
Navy then scored the first two goals of the second half and after Howard tallied its first goal of the half with 18:36 to play, the Mids scored five goals in a 10-minute span to grab a 19-4 advantage with over eight minutes to play. Navy then ran out the clock for its ninth win of the season.
"I want to credit Howard for playing tough all the way to the end," said Timchal. "They are trying to build a program and they were out there hustling until the end. I respect that effort from them."
Rawlick's eight points (4 g, 4 a) are tied for the second most in a game by a Navy player this year, and she tallied her eighth four-goal game of the seasons. She now scored 65 points (46 g, 19 a) for the year.
Freshman Meg Decker (3 g, 1 a) and senior Amanda Towey (2 g, 2 a) contributed four points each, and Decker went over the 50-point plateau with her four points. She currently has 51 points (41 g, 10 a) on the season.
Sophomore Mary Ruttum (1 g, 2 a) and freshman Katrina Nietsch (2 g, 1 a) scored three points each. Sarah Bushong and Brittany Amerau scored two goals each.
Natalie Blandon stopped five shots in goal, while Ellyn Creasey made three saves in a reserve role.
The Mids outshot Howard, 36-18, won 19-of-25 draw controls and grabbed 19 ground balls to Howard's 10. The Mids also forced 21 turnovers, 11 of which were caused by Navy players.
"We have tried to make a concerted effort to force more turnovers, and I thought we took a positive step today," said Timchal.
The Mids, 2-2 in the Patriot League, will face 1-3 Bucknell in a big Patriot League Tournament contest on Saturday. A win will push Navy a step closer to advancing to the Patriot League Tournament at the end of the year.
Navy and Bucknell will battle at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday, beginning at 1:00 pm. Following the game, there will be a free clinic led by the Navy women's lacrosse players and coaching staff for girls ages 6-16, that will feature such drills at shooting, dodging, stick work and goalie work. For information on how to be part of the clinic, call 410-293-8785. Admission is free for all women's lacrosse games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
# GO NAVY #
