WASHINGTON, D.C. – With the Crusaders leading 6-4 with 14:04 left in the first half, the Eagles then outscored the Crusaders by a 12-2 margin as the Holy Cross women's lacrosse team fell to American, 16-8, on Saturday afternoon in Patriot League action at Jacobs Field. With the loss, the Crusaders fall 4-5 overall (1-1 PL), while the Eagles improve to 2-6 overall (1-0 PL).
The Crusaders moved out to an early 3-0 lead as junior Sara Hennessey (Winchester, Mass.) scored off a pass from freshman Kaitlin Concilio (Ridgewood, N.J.) for her team-leading 22nd goal of the season, senior captain Maddie Carrellas (Middletown, R.I.) then found the back of the net and senior captain Kat Sutton (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) netted a goal on a free-position shot. Hennessey extended her goal scoring streak to 25 straight games. After Alex Lugovina put the Eagles on the scoreboard, Sutton made it a 4-1 contest with her second goal of the game on a free-position shot. American then netted two straight goals, but Sutton scored her third goal of the game as she found the back of the net off a pass by Concilio. Sutton now has three hat-tricks this season and 13 for her career. The assist was Concilio's second of the game and her team-best ninth of the season. After Lugovina scored her second goal of the game, sophomore Laura Ryan (Stirling, N.J.) gave the Crusaders a 6-4 lead with 14:04 remaining in the first half. The Eagles then closed out the half with five consecutive goals to take a 9-6 lead to the half.
American netted the first two goals of the second half for an 11-6 advantage. The Crusaders then scored their only two goals of the second half to cut the lead to 11-8. Ryan netted her second goal of the contest and freshman MacKenzie Bozel (Hunt Valley, Md.) scored her first collegiate goal off a pass from Ryan. The Eagles then closed out the game by scoring five straight goals for the 16-8 final score. Lugovina led the Eagles with five goals.
Junior goalie Sarah Weber (Summit, N.J.) made three saves as she played in 25:19, while junior goalie Maddie Parisi (Westport, Conn.) posted two saves as she played in 34:41. Teal Harrison made five saves for the Eagles. American outshot Holy Cross, 31-17, while the Eagles posted seven ground balls and the Crusaders tallied five. American secured 16 draw controls and Holy Cross posted nine, while the Crusaders went 2-5 on free-position shots and the Eagles went 3-6.
The Crusaders return to action for a home game on Wednesday, March 20, when they play UMass at 4:00 p.m.
