HIRAM, Ohio—The Allegheny College women's lacrosse team topped Hiram College 15-8 Tuesday (April 18) in North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) action.
The Terriers struck early, scoring on a free position goal less than thirty seconds in. However, the Gators took control from that point on.
Maddie Olson got the ball rolling for the Gators on an unassisted goal to tie the game at one. A couple minutes later, Olson found the back of the net once again, this time off a feed from
Jeannie Kirk.
Jessie Thiessen would follow up with a free position goal to push the lead to 3-1. Less than 30 seconds after Thiessen's goal,
Christine McGrath scored off an assist from Olson to make it 4-1. Thiessen and McGrath scored the next two goals, both assisted by
Shelby Piper.
After a seven minute scoreless stretch, the Gators scored three straight goals. Alex Zielinksi found the back of the net with just over seven minutes to play in the opening half. Thirty seconds later, Piper scored her first goal, bringing the lead to 8-1. Not too long after that, McGrath completed her hat trick on a free position goal.
The Terriers added a pair of goals late in the half as the Gators took a 9-3 lead into the break.
The Gators got back to work early in the second half as
Katie Weiss scored just ninety seconds in. Less than a minute later, Zielinski scored her second goal to make it 11-3. Piper's second goal made it 12-3 before the Terriers answered with a goal.
Alina Nieratko scored to push the lead back to nine, 12-4, with just over 20 minutes to play. McGrath continued to play well offensively, giving the Gator a 10 goal lead with her fourth of the game.
The lead stayed at ten for several minutes until the Terriers slowly netted three straight goals to cut the lead to 14-7 with just over five minutes to go.
Thiessen broke up the Hiram run with her third goal of the evening, making it 15-7.
The Terriers added one late but it was not enough to overcome the Gator lead.
Piper led the Gators with six points on two goals, four assists. McGrath the team with four goals. Olson also tallied four points, split evenly on two goals and two assists. Thiessen finished with three goals while Zielinski had two. Nieratko and Weiss had one apiece.
Rhiannon King and Kirk had an assist apiece.
Thiessen was also a force on defense, collecting 11 groundballs and three draw controls while causing four turnovers. Piper also performed well with eight groundballs and three caused turnovers. Laurence Buqsue had three groundballs while forcing three turnovers. Overall, the Gators collected 43 groundballs to Hiram's 31.
Kaelin Clogan picked up the win in net, making six saves.
Sierah Ray led Hiram with four goals. Rachel Metcalf made 13 saves in net.
The Gators are back in action Saturday (April 22) at Kenyon College.
