Box Score
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Julika Blankenship
(Crumpton, MD/Kent County) tallied eight points, Cassidy
Zappacosta (Monkton, MD/Maryvale Prep) scored a career-high
four goals and fifth-ranked Gettysburg cruised into the Centennial
Conference (CC) women’s lacrosse playoffs with a 14-6 victory
over McDaniel on Tuesday.
Blankenship or Zappacosta had a hand
in 10 of the Bullets’ first 12 goals, helping Gettysburg (12-2,
7-0 CC) build a 12-0 lead before the Green Terror (9-2, 5-1
CC) could get on the board with 16:41 remaining.
The Bullets won their 24th consecutive
CC game and became the first team to clinch a berth in the
upcoming conference tournament. The two-time defending champions
would host the playoffs, slated for May 1-2, with a victory
at Haverford on Saturday or Muhlenberg on Apr. 24.
Blankenship finished the day with 271 career
points, one shy of Colleen Dunn (272) for second
place on the program’s all-time list.
Kim Lowry scored four times
for McDaniel, which saw its program-record nine-game winning
streak come to an end.
For the second straight game at Shirk
Field, the Bullets used a lopsided first half to claim a conference
victory.
Jenn Kelly (Westbury, NY/Carle
Place) started the fireworks by finishing a half-field
solo run at 4:13. Blankenship fed a cutting Ellie Shihadeh
(Malvern, PA/Conestoga) at 5:58 for a 2-0 lead and
Amy Farrell (Ambler, PA/Upper Dublin) scored
the first of her two goals at 7:45 to force a Green Terror
timeout.
Blankenship continued the Gettysburg
barrage off a Farrell assist at 9:01. Four games removed from
her first collegiate hat trick, Zappacosta repeated that feat
in a span of fewer than four minutes to give the Bullets a
7-0 lead. The junior finished a solo run at 12:32, netted
a one-timer from Blankenship at 16:14 and scored again directly
off the ensuing draw control.
Farrell connected from in front of the
cage to make it 8-0 and Dawn Mennen (Pennington, NJ/Shawnee)
scored with five seconds left in the half to give Gettysburg
a nine-goal edge at the break. Blankenship handed out an assist
on each goal.
Defensively, the Bullets held McDaniel
to two shots before halftime while causing 12 of the Green
Terror’s 22 first-half turnovers. Gettysburg out-shot its
guests 21-2 and held a 24-12 ground ball advantage by the
intermission.
Blankenship scored two more times and
handed out her fifth assist to push the Bullet lead to 12-0
before Lowry struck on a free-position attempt to get McDaniel
on the scoreboard at 43:19.
Jen Betts (Potomac, MD/Acad. of
the Holy Cross) put back a save on her own free-position
attempt to make it 14-2 with 8:40 left. McDaniel cut into
the final margin with four goals in the game’s final four
minutes.
With 47 assists on the year, Blankenship
is closing in on her own program record of 62, set last season.
She needs 14 points to eclipse former teammate Megan
Murphy (284) as the program’s all-time point scorer.
In addition to her three-point day, Farrell
led the defensive effort with a team-high nine ground balls
and three caused turnovers. She also took a team-best nine
shots.
Lindsay O’Steen finished
with 11 saves for the Green Terror.
Gettysburg returns to action on Saturday
at Haverford. Game time is 1 p.m.
| Score by Half |
1 |
2 |
- |
F |
| McDaniel (9-2, 5-1 CC) |
0 |
6 |
- |
6 |
| #5 Gettysburg (12-2, 7-0 CC) |
9 |
5 |
- |
14 |
Goals:
McDaniel: Kim Lowry 4, Sara Thomas,
Megan Mattson.
Gettysburg: Cassidy Zappacosta 4, Julika
Blankenship 3, Amy Farrell 2, Jenn Kelly, Jen Betts, Quinn
Dougherty, Ellie Shihadeh, Dawn Mennen.
Assists:
McDaniel: Thomas, Kristen Ramey, Emily
Funk.
Gettysburg: Blankenship 5, Mennen, Farrell.
Shots: M 16, G 34.
Ground Balls: M 28, G 40.
Goalies: M (Linsday O’Steen – 60:00,
11 saves, 14 GA), G (Liz Borucki – 48:42, 4 saves, 1 GA; Heather
Kelley – 11:18, 1 save, 5 GA).
Draw Controls: M 10, G 12.
Caused Turnovers: M 6, G 16.
Turnovers: M 31, G 25.
Fouls: M 13, G 14.
Free Position: M 3 of 4, G 1 of 5.
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