Towson Tops Stanford with Second-Half Rally
from press release
TOWSON, Md. -- Junior attacker Jess Dunn scored
a game-high four goals, including the game-winning goal with 7:35
left in regulation, as the 10th-ranked Tigers (6-1) rallied from a
four goal second half deficit to edge eighth-ranked Stanford
University (5-4) by a 10-9 margin at Johnny Unitas Stadium on
Sunday afternoon.
Dunn, who leads the Tigers with 23 goals, scored three of her four
goals in the second half as Towson recovered from a 7-3 deficit by
scoring seven of the final nine goals in the last 19 minutes to
give the Tigers their first-ever win over a team ranked in the
IWLCA Top 10.
"We were down in the first half, but we went into the locker room
at half-time and talked about the things we needed to do," Dunn
said. "We started a little slow in the second half, but after that,
everyone did well and took care of what they needed to do.
"Stanford has a different defense than we are used to and after
working on it in practice this week, we knew what we needed to do,"
she added.
After senior attacker Jacie Kendall scored on a free position shot
to give Towson a 1-0 lead, senior midfielder Julie Christy tallied
a pair of goals in less than two minutes for a 2-1 Stanford
advantage with 17:07 left in the first half.
With 12:26 remaining in the stanza, Dunn tied the game at 2-2 with
an unassisted goal before freshman midfielder Kelly Custer regained
the Tigers' one-goal edge with an unassisted marker with 7:23
left.
However, the Cardinal responded by scoring five unanswered goals
over a nine-minute span for a 7-3 cushion with 23:59 remaining in
the second half. After junior midfielder Leslie Foard converted a
pass from senior attacker Claire Hubbard, junior midfielder Karen
Nesbitt scored an unassisted goal to regain the Cardinal's one-goal
lead with 2:04 left in the first half.
Junior Sarah Flynn upped the Stanford lead to 5-3 with 1:38 left
on an unassisted goal before Nesbitt tallied her second goal of the
game, a free position shot past sophomore goalkeeper Mary Teeters
with 26:31 remaining in the second half.
Senior attacker Amanda Schwab extended the advantage to 7-3 with a
free position shot with 23:59 remaining before the Tigers began to
make their comeback.
Dunn scored back-to-back goals in a two-minute span to narrow the
deficit to 7-5 before senior Dana Lindsay answered by converting a
pass from junior midfielder Lauren Schmidt for an 8-5 Cardinal
lead.
With 13:37 left, senior midfielder Hillary Fratzke ignited a
four-goal run by the Tigers by scoring off a feed from senior
midfielder Nikki Marcinik. Just 42 seconds later, Kendall took a
pass from Marcinik and scored her second goal of the game past
junior goalkeeper Annie Read to close the gap to 8-7.
Marcinik tied the game at 8-8 with 11:56 remaining with an
unassisted goal before junior midfielder Ali Lathroum gave Towson
the one-goal lead just 21 seconds later with an unassisted
marker.
Sophomore midfielder Emilie Boeri tied the game at 9-9 with 8:23
remaining when she scored her fourth goal of the season, an
unassisted goal after a save by Teeters.
But, Dunn responded 48 seconds later on a free position shot to
give Towson a 10-9 lead it did not relinquish.
Dunn earned her fifth "hat trick" of the season with a game-high
four goals while Marcinik scored a goal and tied a career high with
three assists.
"Jess did a good job today and we gave her a game plan today,"
Towson Coach Missy Doherty said. "She is a very aggressive attacker
and she did a good job of being aggressive at the right times
instead of forcing the ball. She is getting better and better with
more experience and she is also an accurate shooter for us."
Teeters tied a career high with 14 saves, including eight in the
second half, as the Tigers were outshot by a 31-25 margin.
"Mary has always been very good at the end of games and today, I
thought she had a solid game from start to finish," Coach Doherty
said. "Our defense also played well today and came up with the big
plays when we needed it.
"We want to come out strong against some of the top teams in the
country and if we continue to do that against those teams, it
definitely helps our confidence."
Christy and Nesbitt each scored two goals to lead the Cardinal in
a losing effort while Flynn added a goal with an assist. Read made
10 saves for Stanford, which lost its second straight game after a
four-game win streak.
The Tigers will travel to the University of Maryland on Wednesday
night for a 7 p.m. game against the second-ranked Terrapins, who
are off to a 9-0 start. Meanwhile, Stanford returns home to face
Hofstra on Wednesday evening.
College Women's Lacrosse: #10 Towson University 10, #8 Stanford
University 9
Stanford (5-4) 5-4 / 9
Towson (6-1) 3-7 / 10
Goals: STAN - Julie Christy 2, Karen Nesbitt 2, Sarah Flynn 1,
Leslie Foard 1, Emilie Boeri 1, Dana Lindsay 1, Amanda Schwab 1;
TOW - Jess Dunn 4, Jacie Kendall 2, Nikki Marcinik 1, Hillary
Fratzke 1, Ali Lathroum 1, Kelly Custer 1. Assists: STAN - Sarah
Flynn 1, Claire Hubbard 1, Lauren Schmidt 1; TOW - Nikki Marcinik
3. Saves: STAN - Annie Read 10 (60:00, 10 goals allowed); TOW -
Mary Teeters 14 (60:00, 9 goals allowed). Shots: STAN - 31; TOW -
25. Free Position Shots: STAN - 2 for 7; TOW - 2 for 9. Attendance:
813.
Post-Game Notes:
- The Tigers and the Cardinal met for the first time ever in
women's lacrosse on Sunday.
- The Tigers are now 6-0 this season when scoring first.
- The Tigers also 3-0 this year when holding their opponent to
fewer than 10 goals.
- The Tigers shot at least 40 per cent for the fifth time this
season ... They are 5-0 this year when scoring on at least 40 per
cent of their shots.
- Sunday's victory over Stanford marked the 14th win over a
nationally-ranked opponent in school history ... The Tigers are now
2-1 this season when facing a nationally-ranked foe.
- The Tigers overcame a four-goal deficit for the second time this
season ... In the Tigers' win over Johns Hopkins on March 10, the
Tigers rallied from a 9-5 deficit in the second half with five
straight goals.
- The Tigers extended their home win streak to five straight games
with the win over Stanford on Sunday.
- Prior to Sunday, the highest-ranked opponent Towson had ever
defeated was against 11th-ranked Loyola earlier this season in a
14-10 victory.
- Fratzke extended her streak of consecutive games with a goal to
55 straight games ... Meanwhile, she has now tallied a point in 61
straight games, which is tied for the longest active streak in NCAA
Division I with Denver's Ali Flury.
- Fratzke has scored 11 goals at home this year and 11 goals on
the road.
- Dunn has now scored a goal in all seven games this season for
the Tigers.
- Dunn has now scored 14 of her 23 goals this season at home.
- Senior midfielder Steph Taylor had a six-game goal-scoring
streak snapped on Sunday.
- Kendall became the sixth different player to score the Tigers'
first goal this season ... She is also the sixth different Towson
player to score the game's first goal this year.
- With her four-point outing against Stanford, Marcinik moved into
a tie for seventh place on the Tigers' all-time points list ... She
is tied with Britt Woodfield, '09 with 140 points (102 goals, 38
assists).
