No. 17 Tribe Locks Down Golden Bears
from press release
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — The No. 17 William and Mary
lacrosse team posted one of its best defensive efforts of the
season with a 10-8 victory against California on Wednesday evening
at Albert-Daly Field.
En route to allowing a season-low eight goals, the Tribe (5-3) held
the Golden Bears (2-6) scoreless for the final 25:39 of the first
half and the opening 6:58 of the second half – a span of
32:37. During that period, W&M scored seven goals and turned a
2-1 deficit into a comfortable 8-2 lead that it would never
relinquish.
Individually, seven different players scored for the Green and
Gold, led by three goals from sophomore Sally Roberts. Junior
Ashley Holofcener also came up big with five points (1g, 5a), while
senior Mary Zulty provided a pair of goals and an assist.
In addition to totaling two points (1g, 1a), Tewaaraton Trophy
Watch List selection Grace Golden set a single-game school record
with six caused turnovers to go with five ground balls. Junior
All-American Sarah Jonson also came up big with four caused
turnovers, three ground balls and two draw controls, while junior
goalkeeper Emily Geary totaled seven saves, four ground balls and a
caused turnover.
"I was very pleased with the win tonight," Head Coach Christine
Halfpenny said. "It was exciting to see the balanced scoring
attack, as seven players scored in a number of different ways. Our
younger players really stepped up, and Sally came up big with a hat
trick. Although we could have closed out the game better, I was
very pleased with the defensive effort. We stuck to the game plan
and had fun tonight."
After winning the opening draw, the Tribe wasted little time
getting on the scoreboard, as Roberts scored off an assist from
Holofcener to punctuate the contest's opening possession.
Although Cal answered with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead, the
Tribe held the Golden Bears scoreless during the final 25:39 of the
first half. During that span, six different players scored for the
College as it built a 7-2 lead by halftime. The first three goals,
coming from Holofcener (21:09), Zulty (18:49) and Wannen (15:11)
all came on free position opportunities. Roberts tallied her second
goal of the half off a feed from Zulty with 7:03 showing, while
freshman Kyrstin Mackrides (7:03) and Golden finished off the half
with scores (0:14).
As it did in the first half, W&M won the opening draw of the
second stanza and finished off the possession with a goal, as
redshirt freshman Jenny Michael found the back of the net less than
a minute into play to push the advantage to 8-2.
After trading 2-0 runs, the Tribe still led by six, 10-4, with less
than 10 minutes remaining. While Cal scored the final four goals of
the game, the last coming with just three seconds remaining, the
College held on for the two-goal victory.
The Tribe will return to action when it plays at No. 14 Penn State
on Sunday at 1 p.m.
