SAINTS HOLD OFF VASSAR 13-12 FOR WEEKEND SWEEP

April 15: St. Lawrence University senior midfielder Meghan Clement scored one goal and set up two others in a streak of five unanswered goals in the second half and the Saint women’s lacrosse team held off a late Vassar comeback to complete a weekend Liberty League sweep with a 13-12 win over the Brewers at North Country Field on Saturday afternoon.

The Saints, now 4-6 overall and 3-4 in the Liberty League, trailed 5-4 at the half, but took a 13-8 lead with 4:38 to go in the game. Vassar came flying back with four straight goals and Kristin Hogan pulled the Brewers to within one on a free position shot with 14 seconds to go, but Saint midfielder Kathryn Durki controlled the draw after the final Vassar goal and ran out the clock to preserve the Saint win. Vassar, which split its weekend series with Clarkson and the Saints, is now 7-6 overall and 1-5 in the Liberty League.

Sophomore Alanna Waters scored five goals to lead the Saint attack while Clement finished with two goals and three assists and Durki had two goals and an assist. Shannon Garrett added three goals and an assist for the Saints. Ali Fantl led Vassar with four goals while Hogan finished with three goals and an assist.

Vassar jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first half, but the Saints battled back. The Brewers led 5-3 with 8:04 to go in a rainy first half which contributed to some shooting and ball handling troubles on the part of both teams, but Clement scored from Julia Palmateer to bring the Saints to within a goal with 1:08 to go in the first half.

The Saints scored the first two goals of the second half on shots by Garrett and Waters for a 6-5 lead, but Jessica Johnson tied it for Vassar on a free position shot with 21:49 to play.

Garrett and Waters again scored back-to-back goals to put the Saints up 8-6, but Bernie Wu and Fantl scored for Vassar to retie the game at 8-8 with 13:56 to play. The Saints then went on their five goal tear as Clement set up Waters and Liz Reade for goals 43 seconds apart and after controlling the draw following Reade’s goal, Durki scored on a fast break to make it 11-8 with 10:24 to go.

The Saints slowed things down after gaining the three goal lead and eventually pushed it to 13-8 as Garrett scored her third with 7:44 to play and Clement scored with 4:38 to go.

Fantl started the Vassar rally with a goal off the draw following Clement’s goal, Christine Castellan scored with 3:20 to go on a free position and Hogan scored with 2:14 to go and on the free position to bring Vassar close at the end.

Saint goaltender Cynthia Saul finished with four saves for the Saints while Taylor Herman had five for Vassar. The Saints outshot the Brewers 29-23 and won 16 of 27 draws in the game.

SAINTS PULL AWAY TO BEAT RPI 11-7 IN LIBERTY LEAGUE LACROSSE

April 14: Sophie Malinowski scored four goals, two of them in a 5-1 Saint run in the second half, leading St. Lawrence University’s women’s lacrosse team to a 11-7 Liberty League victory over Rensselaer at North Country Field.

The Saints, now 3-6 overall and 2-4 in the Liberty League, will host Vassar on Saturday. RPI, 2-8, 1-4, will play at Clarkson.

The two teams were tied at 2-2 at halftime as Red Hawk goalie Gianna Casale had a busy first half and kept her team in the game. Rebecca Primm tied the game at 2-2 with 1:58 to go in the half after the Saints had jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

The Saints went up 4-2 in the first 5:30 of the second half, but the Red Hawks kept coming back to tie. Saint midfielder Meghan Clement and RPI’s Carly Strife traded goals 37 seconds apart with just over 19 minutes to play to make it a 5-5 game, but then the Saints scored three straight to take the lead for good.

Malinowski scored two goals and Alanna Waters scored her second of the game in the streak as the Saints took a 8-5 lead with 15:54 to go. Kate Phillips brought the Red Hawks to within two at 9:25, but Clement and Lis Reade scored off draw control fast breaks to give the Saints a 10-6 lead. Jen Wahl scored on a free position for RPI with 23 seconds to go and Patty Ball beat the final buzzer with a goal with one second left to make it a 11-7 final.

Casale had 17 saves for the Red Hawks, who were outshot 38-26 overall while Cynthia Saul had a solid game in goal for the Saints, making nine saves.