No. 11 Union Holds Off Saints in Liberty League Semis, 11-9

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Tara Freeman
Sophomore Nora Langan scored three goals against #11 Union on Friday.

May 7: The St. Lawrence University women's lacrosse team tested nationally-ranked No. 11 Union College on Friday evening in Clinton, NY, in the 2010 Liberty League Tournament semifinals.  Despite falling behind 5-1, the Saints rallied and trailed by only one goal with 10 minutes remaining, but fell short of the Dutchwomen in their season finale, 11-9.

The Saints wrap up the 2010 season with a 12-5 record, and managed to outshoot Union 27-22 and earn the ground ball edge 21-18 on Friday.  However, Union goalie Cat Ruggiero turned in 11 saves while St. Lawrence netminder Anna Marchand made five, allowing the Dutchwomen to escape with the two-goal victory.

"I am so proud of the way our team played today," said St. Lawrence head coach Jodi Canfield.  "Union took it to us in the first half of the game in the regular season and they had a four-goal lead today, but we kept working hard and chipped our way back into the game.  It's never easy to have your season come to an end, but every one of our players can take positives away from this game."

First-year student Brigid Hurley scored three goals for the Saints as did sophomore Nora Langan.  Union's Melissa Hine anchored the Dutchwomen's offense with a fantastic eight-point game on three goals and five assists, while Kat Egizi had a game-high four caused turnovers.  Meanwhile, St. Lawrence senior Mary Jane Sweetland scooped up a game-high five ground balls.

Langan opened the game's scoring at 3:45 to give the Saints the early cushion, but a five-goal blitz by Union gave the Dutchwomen control in the first half.  Hine scored the tying goal then assisted on scores by Ally Boertzel, Jill LaForest and Kristin Joyce.  Allie Cuozzo rounded out the run, which put Union on top 5-1.

The Saints would grind their way back into the game and pull to within one goal before halftime.  Sophomore Margie Bailey took a pass from senior captain Lexi Wisnowski and scored on Ruggiero to make it 5-2 before Hurley scored back-to-back goals less than a minute apart.  Hurley's tallies made it 5-4 and kept the Scarlet and Brown within striking distance after 30 minutes.

Union, which defeated St. Lawrence 16-4 in the regular season, opened the second half scoring on a goal by Joyce to make it 6-4.  The two teams exchanged tallies, as junior captain Kelsey Redpath and Langan went back-and-forth with Joyce and Cuozzo, bringing the game's score to 8-6 in favor of the Dutchwomen with 14:11 remaining.

After sophomore Paige Powell and Union's Chelsea Carlette each scored goals to make it 9-7, Langan pulled the Saints to within one again at 9-8 with 11:13 left on the game clock.  The goal was Langan's third of the game and 18th of the season.

With the game's outcome still in doubt, Hine scored two of her biggest goals of the season.  Her consecutive goals at 21:16 and 24:30 gave Union its largest lead in the second half at 11-8 with just over five minutes left in the game.  Though Hurley would score a goal for St. Lawrence in the final minute, Union was able to run out the clock and hang on for an 11-9 victory.

Union will take on nationally-ranked #1 Hamilton tomorrow for the 2010 Liberty League Championship, while Friday's game was the last in a St. Lawrence uniform for the Saints' four seniors including Wisnowski, Sweetland, Emiko Bennett and Anna Parrott.