Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Sixth-ranked Gettysburg College rattled off three consecutive goals and had an opportunity to tie The College of New Jersey in regulation, but the Bullets upset bid fell short as the top-ranked Lions escaped Clark Field with an 8-7 victory in women's lacrosse action on Friday night.

Things looked bleak for Gettysburg (6-2) following Ali Jaeger's fourth goal of the game which made it 8-4 with 9:17 left in the second period. But the Bullets belied their general youth and never panicked. The hosts won each of the next three draw controls to set up the comeback.

Sophomore Lindsey Robinson started the run by converting on a free-position shot at 8:20. Gettysburg won the next draw as well, but came up empty on the offensive end and TCNJ (10-0) ran the ball up the field. The visitor's possession didn't last long as senior Becky Lutz knocked the ball out of the stick of Kathleen Notos and sophomore Hayward Sawers scooped up the ground ball.

After a shot attempt by junior Hannah Church ricocheted off the post, sophomore Loren Pruitt drew a foul inside the eight-meter arc and converted on the following free-position attempt to make it 8-6 with 4:26 to play.

Gettysburg didn't waste any time after sophomore Mairead McGuirk won the next draw control as Robinson tossed a shot at TCNJ goalie Mary Waller. Waller swatted down the attempt for one of her seven saves, but Pruitt scooped up the loose ball and tossed it into the back of the net at 3:28.

The Lions won the final draw but junior Maddie Coleman came up huge with one of her career-high 10 saves on a shot by Alex Spark. The Bullets were unable to hold onto the ball, losing it on the clear, but the favor was returned as junior Lexi Kelly caused a turnover along the sideline to regain the ball for the home team with 1:35 left to play.

After calling a timeout, Gettysburg tossed the ball around the offensive zone looking for an opening, but TCNJ's top-rated defense gave no quarter. Eventually Church tried to force her way into the scoring area only to have the ball pop loose and get scooped up by Claire Engelman with 11 seconds left. Engelman maintained possession as she dashed up the field to preserve the win for TCNJ.

The Lions took the early advantage thanks in large part to winning all but one of the first six draws of the game. Jaeger and Mitchell went back-to-back just 24 seconds apart before Robinson scored off a feed from freshman Kelsey Markiewicz at 13:12 to make it 2-1.

TCNJ turned in each of the next three goals to take a 5-1 advantage at 27:32 of the second half. The Bullets cut the deficit to one with their own three-goal run as senior Marnie Commins and Church scored just 33 seconds apart. Robinson received some help from Waller to end the run, as the sophomore's pass over the cage hit the Lion keeper's stick and bounced into the net.

The visitor's reestablished their multi-goal lead with a trio of unassisted scores as Kathleen Notis and Jaeger (twice) beat defenders to the cage to jump back ahead 8-4 with 9:17 to play.

Friday's one-goal decision was the seventh in the last 12 meetings between the two national powerhouses. Stats were comparable up and down the board with TCNJ owning slight advantages in shots (22-21) and draw controls (9-8) and Gettysburg leading in ground balls (16-13). The Lions were perfect on clears at 12-for-12, while the Bullets coughed the ball up five times in transition as part of a 12-turnover day.

Robinson finished with three goals on five shots and Pruitt tallied two scores and two ground balls. McGuirk corralled four draw controls and three ground balls, while Lutz tallied a pair of caused turnovers.

Jaeger posted four goals, three ground balls, two draw controls, and two caused turnovers to lead TCNJ. Mitchell tallied a pair of goals and Kathleen Notos added one goal, three ground balls, and four draw controls.

Gettysburg has a short rest as the team resumes its Centennial Conference slate with a game at Swarthmore College on Saturday, April 2, at noon.