Women's Lacrosse: Women's lax gets axed

By Frank Visco
Collegian Editor
March 1, 2006

Being outscored in two games by a combined score of 30-14 isn’t exactly the way the women’s lacrosse team had hoped to start its 2006 season. However, that’s exactly what the women did over the weekend, as they lost to both the Colgate Red Raiders and the Albany Great Danes.

“Obviously, we had hopes to come out with a different outcome in our opening weekend, but on the positive end of it, I think the team learned a lot about themselves,” Weiss said. “No one was satisfied, but it’s still early in the season so we can and will definitely bounce back and get to where we want to be.”

On Saturday, the women traveled to Hamilton, N.J. to open up their season against the Red Raiders. Although sophomore Emily Bonczek netted three goals, Colgate’s scoring onslaught proved to be too much for the Explorers, who lost the contest 18-6.

The game started evenly, with each team putting the ball in the net once. Colgate’s Molly Carroll got things started seven minutes in with an unassisted goal, which was answered by Bonczek’s first goal of the day three minutes later.

However, the Explorers began to lose footing after that, as Colgate scored four consecutive goals. The first two came by way of Kelly Winning, who proved her last name to be prophetic by flicking in back-to-back goals at 11:42 and 12:00 to put her team in the lead. Katie McVeigh then tossed in two of her own at 15:15 and 18:49 to put the Red Raiders ahead, 5-1.

In an attempt to patch up the scoring wound, Bonczek fired back with her second goal with 9:11 left to play in the first half. However, it didn’t take long for the Red Raiders to reopen the wound, as Tara Casey netted Colgate’s sixth goal a mere 20 seconds later.

As the half wound down, the Red Raiders scored two more times. Winning made good on her hat trick prospects with her third goal at the 23:25 mark, while Jess Vander Meulen netted the Red Raiders eighth goal with 1:23 left in the half. Sandwiched between those plays, La Salle scored a point of its own on the strength of a goal from freshman Maura Kenville on an assist from fellow freshman Ann Anderson.

The second half was more of the same in terms of scoring. Colgate scored another eight goals, including a third by McVeigh, who led all scorers with five points. Meanwhile, the Explorers could only muster up three more, Bonczek’s third and one each by junior Tiffany Grossi and sophomore Kelly Heiss.

The Red Raiders outpaced the Explorers shotwise, 30-23, but committed two more turnovers (17-15). Sophomore Chantelle McCormick had a rough game, managing only eight saves while allowing 18 to go through. Fairing better was Colgate’s Sue Bielamowicz, who recorded twice as many saves (12) as goals allowed (six).

After being brushed off by Colgate, the Explorers made their way to Albany in the hopes of getting their first win of the season against the Great Danes. While La Salle looked sharper than it did in its first outing, the Great Danes still prevailed, winning 12-8.

The Explorers quickly fell into a 2-0 hole, courtesy of goals by Albany’s Krissy Rajczak (1:00) and Julie Bush (1:41). Oddly, Bush assisted Rajczak on her goal and Rajczak assisted Bush on hers.

Just a minute later, Bonczek decreased the lead to one by scoring her first goal of the game. The Great Danes then knocked in two more goals, another from Rajczak as well as one from Domenica Lo Re, before Bonczek scored again with 16:58 left on the clock. Forty-one seconds later, junior Catie Borneman netted a goal to bring the game within one, 4-3.

Two more goals from Rajczak and another from Lo Re widened Albany’s lead to four, but before the half was over the Explorers battled back to within two due to goals by Borneman and senior Kat Prokop.

The Great Danes came out strong in the second half and scored four straight goals, three by Kate Fontana with one by Brittany Scott thrown into the mix. The Explorers bounced back by going on a 3-1 run that was highlighted by two goals from Kristen Davis. However, the late goals were not enough to claw back from the 11-5 deficit, and so the Explorers lost 12-8.

Davis, the team’s co-captain, led all Explorer players with four points, while Borneman and Bonczek each contributed two in the losing effort. Meanwhile, McCormick faced 27 shots and posted nine saves, while Albany’s Jen Daly saw 23 shots and saved 13.

With the loss, La Salle fell to 0-2, and the Great Danes improved to 2-0.

“Despite the losses, I have great confidence and optimism about the season,” Weiss said. “The team’s been working hard the past few weeks and has grown a lot as far as intensity in practice and understanding of the game. They’re eager to do well, which is something you can’t teach, so I’m definitely excited for the season. We have all the tolls to do well.”

Although the team may have lost two games over the weekend, certain individuals shone. Specifically, Bonczek and Davis both showed their offensive mettle, as each tallied a total of four points. Bonczek did it by way of four goals (shooting on an impressive .400 clip), while Davis registered two goals, as well as two assists.

“Continuing where they left off last year, they are a major offensive threat,” Weiss said. “However, the best thing about this team is that we have a very balanced attack. Last year we had seven players with double-digit point totals, and I think this team, even with some new players, will follow that pattern.”

The women will next see action at Villanova on Wednesday, March 1 at 6 p.m. The team will play its first home game of the season against American at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7.

viscof1@lasalle.edu