COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus women's lacrosse team dropped a CC contest to Washington College 13-9 on a windy evening at Patterson Field.
The Bears (2-7, 0-3) were led by team scoring leader Emily DiGiorgio, who netted four goals to increase her total to 26 on the season. Senior Franny Liberatoscioli recorded a hat trick, all of her goals coming in the second half. Junior Kaci McNeave scored twice for the Bears, and junior goalie Kaitlyn France made a career-high 17 saves on the night.
Washington College (8-2, 3-0) got off to a quick start as it registered a goal just 16 seconds into the game after winning the opening draw. On that play, a Shorewoman had her shot blocked, but the ball somehow bounced into the back of the cage to send the Bears to an inauspicious start. From the opening whistle, the Shorewomen dominated the circle, recording a 17-7 advantage on draws. Washington College's Kristy Grovom won eight of those draws.
Washington College then followed up with another score 34 seconds later to add to its lead. DiGiorgio scored the Bears' first goal with 28:34 remaining in the first half on a free-position attempt, and she went on to score two more goals off free-positon attempts to knot the game at 3-3 with 16:57 on the first-half clock.
Washington College went on a two-goal spurt before McNeave got on the board for Ursinus to the get the Bears within a goal at 5-4. The Shorewomen finished the half strong with three goals to take an 8-4 lead at the break.
In the second half, the Bears scored two goals courtesy of DiGiorgio and Liberatoscioli to make it 8-6 Washington College with exactly 23 minutes left. Two Shorewomen shots found the net before Liberatoscioli scored on another free-position goal to get the game to 10-7.
Liberatoscioli and McNeave each scored goals to make the score 12-9 with under three minutes to play, but the Shorewomen netted an insurance marker at 2:07 made the final score 13-9.
Cecily Docktor's four goals and an assist highlighted the Shorewomen's offensive attack. Isabella Robinson recorded six saves to pick up the win for Washington College.
Overall, Washington College registered 30 shots on goal compared to 15 for Ursinus. The Shorewomen held a 14-8 advantage on ground balls and turned it over 11 times to the Bears' 15.
McNeave led the Bears with three ground balls and three draw controls, while Liberatoscioli recorded three draws to match her three goals.
France made eight saves in the first half and added nine more stops in the second stanza.
The Bears continue CC competition when they travel to McDaniel for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday.