ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The #21 Navy women's lacrosse team (2-0) recorded a 10-8 victory over Mount St. Mary's (0-2) on Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Midshipmen trailed by one in the second half, but closed out the game with three straight goals to claim the win.
"For Navy women's lacrosse, I thought it was a good victory for Navy here at home," head coach
Cindy Timchal said after the game. "We knew it was going to be a big game. Playing a team in state is always big. The Mount has good coaching, solid returning players, good transfers. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to grow. We feel blessed every time we get the opportunity to get out there and play. We overcame a lot. The Mount was able to win some draws and put some balls by us. Lacrosse is a game of momentum. Goals are going to be scored. The momentum shift in the second half went their way early, but we were able to overcome that momentum. We had to focus on little things like taking care of the ball, converting clears, driving lanes, and passing. We were able to do that and come away with a win."
Offensively, four Mids combined for 10 goals, led by a career-high four-goal performance by
Ellie Lecker (Ponte Vedra, Fla.). Lecker was joined by
Marina Lazarides (Westminster, Md.) who also had a hat trick on the day, netting her first three goals of the season.
Nicole Victory (Issaquah, Wash.) continued her strong start to the season with a pair of goals to give her six in two games. Rounding out the scoring was
Gil Eby (Towson, Md.) who scored her first goal of the year.
Reagan Roelofs (Apple Valley, Minn.) and
Isabelle Thornburg (Alexandria, Va.) added an assist apiece.
Defensively, the Mids caused seven of the Mount's 14 turnovers. Eric Carson (New Albany, Ohio) led the way with three caused turnovers, while
Christine Fiore (Darien, Conn.) chipped in a pair. As a team, Navy tallied 20 ground balls with Fiore pacing the club with six. Goalie
Abbi Young (Alamo, Calif.) added four, while Carson and Eby finished with three and two, respectively.
At goal, Young earned the start. The junior worked just over 41 minutes of action registering seven saves, but surrendering eight goals.
Annie Maloney (Ellicott City, Md.) worked the final 19 minutes recording a save and holding the Mount scoreless for her first collegiate victory.
The two teams battled back and forth in the first half with the two teams matching each other goal for goal for the first 24-plus minutes. Navy started the scoring with a goal from Lazarides, but a free position opportunity by Mount St. Mary's knotted the score at one apiece. Lecker's first goal of the game put the Mids back in front, but the Mount countered. Navy regained the lead on a second Lecker goal, going up 3-2. Following a goal by the Mountaineers, Lazarides scored her second goal to put the Midshipmen in front 4-3. Mount St. Mary's tied the game at four with 5:30 to play, before Navy closed out the half with three straight goals. Lazarides opened the run with her third goal of the half. Victory chipped in a score and Lecker closed out the run to make it 7-4 with her third goal to give her a hat trick at intermission.
Coming out of the break, Mount St. Mary's picked up momentum with four consecutive goals to close the gap and subsequently gain the lead with 19 minutes to play. With just over nine minutes remaining, Victory converted a free-position attempt to knot the score at eight apiece. Lecker gave Navy a lead that they would not relinquish, converting an eight-meter opportunity. Eby added an insurance goal with just over six minutes to play and defense held tight to provide the final margin of 10-8.
Navy returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 27, as the Midshipmen make their first road trip of the season, traveling to our nation's capital to play George Washington. Opening draw is slated for 1:00 p.m.
