ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The ESU women's lacrosse team's historic season came to a close in the NCAA Tournament semifinals on Thursday night, falling to No. 8 Maryville, 15-11.
NOTABLES
- Sadie Kauffman led the Warriors on offense, scoring four goals, all unassisted. In the midfield, she came up with 12 draw controls, her fourth game of the season with double-digit draws.
- Courtney Reynolds stepped up for the Warriors, scoring a hat trick. After missing ESU's last three games, she delivered with her second three-goal game of the season, scoring on eight shots.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Saints pressed the Warriors right out of the gate, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. ESU had possession before each of the goals, but gave it away to Maryville for each of its possessions.
Lauren Hallman got the Warriors on the board halfway through the frame, dodging down the right alley and putting it past Gianna Guzek.
Turnovers continued to plague ESU, as Maryville would cause two more, leading to another two goals to end the quarter. Things continued to go the Saints' way, as Devyn Dimovitz scored the first goal of the second quarter to put Maryville up 6-1. Kauffman stopped Maryville's run with her first goal of the day, and Reynolds scored one minute later, cutting the deficit to three.
The Saints would get one back, but Kauffman and Reynolds each scored again, making it 7-5 with 7:44 remaining in the half. Now trailing two, the Warriors had possession in the attacking end. However, another turnover came back to bite the Warriors, as Paige Murphy went on a breakaway, sparking a streak of three straight goals for the Saints, who went into halftime leading 10-5.
ESU got the start to the second half it needed, as Kauffman scored just 19 seconds in, dodging in from the left side of the field. The Saints had a response for just about every time momentum seemed to turn the Warriors' way, as ESU never scored more than two consecutive goals all game. Helen Bae and Paige Murphy, who combined for 12 of Maryville's 14 goals, scored the next two, putting the Saints up 12-6.
Over the next 15 minutes, ESU would continue to claw its way back, chipping away at Maryville's lead. Kauffman and Reynolds alternated goals again, and goalie
Madison McBride made a couple of standout saves on point-blank opportunities from both Bae and Murphy.
Katie Bullen also found the back of the net, though her tally was bookended by a pair of goals by Bae.
Trailing by five with nine minutes remaining,
Hannah Schiemer scored a pair of assisted goals that were helped by
Jolee Roth and
Paige Moreland, giving the Warriors one last push in a 14-11 game. ESU was unable to get any closer, as Bae put the game away with five minutes remaining, and Maryville held on to win, 15-11.
The Warriors finished the season with multiple individual record-breaking performances, as the team went 20-2, tying the most wins in program history.
