On a wet and rainy day at Jacobs Field, the AU women’s lacrosse team honored its seniors before falling to College of the Holy Cross 12-10 in their final regular season game. The Eagles and Crusaders swapped momentum and goals, but Holy Cross scored two goals in the final five minutes to pull away.
“It’s hard to play games like that,” head coach Emma Wallace said of the constant momentum swings in the game. “[They] really could go either way and it’s kind of like [a] flip of a coin and we ended up on the wrong side today. It’s tough. These games come down to little things, little errors here and there that end up at the end of the game having an effect.”
The Eagles (3-12, 1-7 PL) started the game aggressively and scored goals on its first three shots on goal. Senior attacker Shauna Norris notched two goals in the game’s first two minutes and the Eagles’ defense limited the Crusaders (7-9, 2-6 PL) to two shots on goal for the first eight minutes of the game.
Holy Cross responded with four consecutive goals to erase AU’s lead. The teams swapped goals to end the first half before AU senior midfielder Madison Hoon scored with three minutes left in the first half to give the Eagles a 6-5 lead.
Holy Cross began the second half with energy and physicality, with quick goals from senior attacker Mary Patalita and freshman midfielder Emma Gill giving the Crusaders a one goal advantage. The Crusaders scored at the 20 minute mark of the second half to take their largest lead of the game at 8-6.
The Eagles lost Hoon for the game when she was injured midway through the second half. Fellow senior Sarah Bootman was disqualified with eleven minutes left after receiving her second yellow card. Without its two senior leaders on offense, underclassmen Erica Skowman, Sam Breeze and Amanda Medjid took on greater responsibility on offense. Skowman finished the game with two goals, Medjid had a second half hat trick and Breeze finished the game with six collected ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Medjid’s third goal at the 5:30 mark pulled the score level at 10, but Holy Cross responded seconds after with a goal from Patalita to restore their lead for good.
“It just seemed like a lot things were out of our control having an effect on the game, which is unfortunate,” Wallace said. “Holy Cross played a really tough game and we had certain members of our team step up: Erica Skowron, Sam Breeze and Amanda Medjid. They played their hearts out.”
Prior to the game, the Eagles honored their five seniors, defenders Kayla Flynn and Daniella Pino, midfielders Madison Hoon and Sarah Bootman and attacker Shauna Norris.
“I really couldn’t be prouder of my seniors,” Wallace said. “They remained positive despite a tough season and that speaks to their character and I am definitely lucky to have them.”
The Eagles conclude their regular season on Saturday, April 29 on the road against Boston University.
