The AU women’s lacrosse team lost their second game in a row, falling to No. 16 Ohio State on Saturday 16-7.
Ohio State got off to a fast start scoring less than two minutes into the match. The game would settle down after that, however, as both teams traded shots and turnovers. AU had several chances just under 10 minutes in when Bernadette Maher, Amanda Makoid and Samantha Marshall all had shots on net. The Buckeyes would take control of the match after that however, as they scored three goals in the next four minutes. Two of the three goals came off of AU turnovers or draw wins by OSU.
AU would be able to stop some of the bleeding when they finally got scored with just under 13 minutes left in the match. AU was awarded a free position shot after a foul and Makoid fired it home to make it 4-1. While AU cut the Buckeyes’ lead to just three, a turnover by Makoid and a good clearing attempt by OSU would lead to another OSU score just three minutes later.
OSU would score the next five goals to make it 10-1 at half time. Two of those goals came from Ohio State’s Rachael Cornicello. She tormented the Eagles during the first half, scoring twice 20 seconds apart in the final five minutes of the half.
The second half started much in the same way the first did, with the Buckeyes dominating early. OSU added two more goals just five minutes into the half. AU’s Lisa Schaaf would score for AU just under eight minutes in to make the score 12-2. The Eagles would control the play for much of the rest of the game, outscoring their opponent 5-4. Despite the late offensive flurry in the last 15 minutes, the deficit was too large to overcome.
AU’s Schaaf and Chiara Speziale led the Eagles with two goals each and a team high two points. Makoid would finish with three shots and a goal. Ohio State’s Kelly Haggerty and Markwordt both scored four goals and Haggerty had a game-high six points.
The loss drops AU to 0-2 on the season. Their next match is against George Washington University on Feb. 24. In their first two losses AU has been outscored 27-17.
You can reach this writer at sports@theeagleonline.com.
