SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The calendar may say it is springtime, but Mother Nature never got the memo as the Wittenberg women's lacrosse team dealt with snow and below-freezing temperatures in a heated battle with the Denison Big Red. The Tigers fell by a score of 9-7, moving to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
The Big Red (4-4, 1-0 NCAC) went up 2-0 with the first two goals of the game, both within three minutes of the opening whistle, but the Tigers scored four of the next five goals and took a 4-3 advantage into the halftime break.
Senior Maggie Amorello (Sutton, Mass./Worcester Academy) scored the last two goals of the half and opened the second period with a third consecutive score just 44 seconds in. Denison answered with three of their own to retake the lead at 6-5.
The Tigers tied the score twice in the final 21 minutes, at 6-6 and 7-7, but each time Denison had an answer. With 5:14 remaining, the Big Red's Lulu Carter scored the winning goal, and she added one more with 0.9 seconds showing for the final margin.
Amorello paced the Tigers with four goals on the night, adding three ground balls, two draw controls and two caused turnovers. Sophomore Erin Guiliano (Loveland, Ohio/Kings) netted two scores on two shots with one ground ball and one caused turnover.
Junior Lindsey Hanners (New Albany, Ohio/Columbus School For Girls)provided one goal on one shot, while junior Jenn Close (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and sophomore Kellen Morrissey (Aurora, Colo./Smoky Hill) each posted one assist.
Morrissey led the team with three caused turnovers and seven ground balls. Freshman Francine Murzynski (Mentor, Ohio/Lake Catholic) picked up three ground balls, junior Katie Frey (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) added two with two caused turnovers, and freshman Alex Dressman (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline)controlled two ground balls as well.
Tiger junior goalkeeper Jenny Schaafmsa (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) played all 60 minutes in the net, stopping a season-high 11 shots in all.
The Tigers head to Pennsylvania for a 2 p.m. matchup with Washington & Jefferson on Saturday, April 2.
John Strawn '07