The season came to an end for the AU women’s lacrosse team April 27, when the fourth-seeded Eagles fell 14-7 at top-seeded Navy in the Patriot League Tournament Semifinals.
The tournament appearance was AU’s second straight, and ninth since joining the conference in 2002. With the loss, the Eagles (7-10, 3-3 PL) closed their 2012 campaign on a five-game losing streak, having been outscored by a combined margin of 73-40 over those five contests.
AU’s Samantha Marshall led the team by picking up five ground balls, while Alex Lugovina and Lauren Schoenberger totaled a team-high two goals apiece.
Navy (17-2, 6-0 PL) sprinted out to a 2-0 lead in the game’s first five minutes. The second of those goals came from Kathy Young, who ranks in the top 25 in the nation in goals scored.
Marshall answered with a score for the Eagles before Navy picked up three straight goals to take a 5-1 lead just 10 minutes into the game.
Assisted by leading goal scorer Emily Burton, Schoenberger flung in the first of her two goals on the evening as AU tried to keep up with the Navy attack.
However, the goals kept coming for the Mids, and Aimee Gennaro’s back-to-back scores gave Navy a five-goal advantage at 8-3 five minutes until halftime.
The Eagles closed the gap to 8-5 following goals from Kimberly Collins and Lugovina, before a 30-second stretch prior to halftime killed AU’s momentum.
Young beat AU goalkeeper Mia Rosen with 29 seconds left, and then DePompeo found the back of the net in the final second to give the Mids a 10-5 halftime lead.
Navy put to rest any thoughts AU had of a second-half surge, opening the final 30 minutes with three consecutive goals to go up 13-5.
Burton and Schoenberger made it 13-7 Navy, with Burton wrapping up 2012 with 46 goals on the season. Loren Generi capped the scoring on the night, pushing the Mids into the PL Championship with a 14-7 victory. Both teams went scoreless over the game’s final 13:22.
Navy held an advantage in shots (25-18) and draw controls (12-10), while both squads committed seven turnovers apiece.
Rosen made her second consecutive start in goal for AU, stopping six shots in the loss. Rosen’s counterpart Michelle Verbeeck made eight saves to secure the victory for the Mids.
Looking ahead to next season, the Eagles will return four of their top five goal scorers in Burton, Collins, Marshall and Emily Maher.
In the tournament’s other semifinal, Holy Cross defeated Colgate 13-12 in a contest that went back and forth for 60 minutes. Colgate cut the Crusaders’ lead to 13-12 with 1:41 remaining, but the Raiders weren’t able to push across the equalizer before time ran out.
Navy became the first team in league history to win three straight Patriot League Tournament titles when the Mids defeated Holy Cross 18-11 in the championship April 29. Gennaro and Young tallied seven goals apiece, and Navy finished the year undefeated in PL play.
