The AU women’s lacrosse team fell to the University of Maryland - Baltimore County Retrievers 13-10 Saturday after failing to recover from a 10-5 deficit early in the second half.
After losing 16-4 to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the season opener, the Eagles were able to bounce back against the George Washington Colonials with a 17-8 victory.
Looking to carry momentum from their last win, the Eagles started strong early. Though Brit Ferguson was given a yellow card within the first minute of the game, AU was able to bounce back and clear the ball out of its defensive zone.
AU and UMBC continued to battle it out in the middle of the field until the Eagles were able to force the ball into the Retrievers’ defensive zone. A foul by UMBC’s Kristen Bilney gave the Eagles a great opportunity, and Emily Burton followed an Emily Stankiewicz miss with the first goal of the game.
AU continued to squeeze the ball past the Retrievers in the first half. A few turnovers from their opponent gave the Eagles good scoring chances and gave AU a 3-0 lead just 10 minutes into the game.
UMBC began to drive back hard, pushing three goals past a struggling Eagles’ defense in just three minutes. The Retrievers’ Ashley Stodter scored the first two goals and Madi Bell put the third one past AU’s keeper, Kaska Komosinski.
The two teams began to trade scores, leaving the score tied at five a piece with 3:30 to play in the opening half. The UMBC attack didn’t let up, and the Retrieivers took a 7-5 lead at the end of the half.
The second half brought more of the same. UMBC continued to pile on the goals against AU, and a Stodter goal early in the second half put the Retrievers up 10-5. Stodter was a key part of the UMBC attack, finishing the game with five goals.
The Eagles were caught on their heels at the beginning of the second half, as their attack struggled to drive towards the net in the opening minutes.
Stankiewicz finally snapped the scoring drought with a hard drive towards the net to pull AU to within four at 10-6. The Eagles’ Samantha Marshall then scored to make it 10-7.
UMBC’s Alicia Krause then won a free position shot and scored to extend the Retrievers’ lead to four. Stodter scored again and drew the game further away for the Eagles at 12-8.
AU’s Lisa Schaaf hit a hot streak and was able to score two in a row within three minutes of one another. AU had hope for a comeback as it trailed 12-10 with just over 10 minutes to play.
However, a final UMBC goal with five minutes to play put the game out of reach for the Eagles and resulted in the 13-10 final.
AU will be on the road for its next game against the University of Richmond Spiders on Wednesday, Mar. 2 at 4 p.m.
sports@theeagleonline.com
