Gavin Vondercrone
Staff Writer
Women’s lacrosse lost their first game of the season this past Saturday, suffering a 9-5 loss on the road against Pace University.
Despite the end result, the Warriors fought hard in what was a physical, defensive-minded battle between two of the top-ranked teams in all of Division II.
“Though we lost today, we had many positives from today’s game. Our defense played great and Abby, our goalie, had an outstanding game,” said head coach Xeni Barakos.
With the loss, the Warriors now post a record of 5-1 on the season, good enough for fourth in the PSAC East.
The weather conditions proved to have a major effect on the game, as the constant rain played a key role in both teams’ performance. Multiple players chose to put on gloves going into the second half due to the fact that they lost feeling in their hands.
“Today we were not permitted to use our sideline tent and had no indoor space during halftime,” said Barakos. “I think we just could not warm up and much of the team had issues feeling their hands towards the end of the game.”
Pace jumped out to an early 4-0 in the first quarter courtesy of a goal from sophomore midfielder Maddie Schubert, and an early trio of goals from senior midfielder Angelina Porcello. The former of the two surpassed 200 career points this past weekend.
Junior midfielder Campbell Heller would score the first goal of the game for the Warriors with 2:47 left in the first. Pace would be quick to respond, as a fourth goal from Porcello pushed the score to 5-1 heading into the second.
An early goal from sophomore attacker Courtney Reynolds would kick off the second quarter for the Warriors. They would go on to score two more times in the period, while holding Pace scoreless to cut the lead down to 5-4 heading into the half.
The Warriors would come out swinging after the break, as a second goal from Reynolds tied the game up at five with 13:11 left in the third.
Pace would be quick to respond, as they would go on to dominate the rest of the quarter. A second goal from Schubert would headline a trio that would give them an 8-5 lead heading into the fourth.
The Warriors would fail to generate any momentum offensively in the final quarter of play. A late goal from Pace’s sophomore midfielder Mackenzie Carita proved to be the final dagger, pushing the final score to 9-5 in favor of Pace.
Despite the loss, Abby Simonetti had another solid performance defensively. The junior goalkeeper recorded 18 saves over the course of the game, with multiple being a high degree of difficulty.
“Abby works incredibly hard,” says Barakos. “She is the first person at the field everyday.”
Following the loss, coach Barakos stated that there are some things the Warriors need to improve upon. “We need to improve in the midfield and finish our shots.”
Coach Barakos and the Warriors will look to get back in the win column on Wednesday, March 27, at 3:00 p.m. in a home game against West Chester.
