Women's Lacrosse: Shubert's last-second goal lifts lacrosse to win

By Mike Petty
Collegian Staff
March 29, 2006

For a team looking to reverse some early season struggles, the women’s lacrosse team (3-5) used some late game heroics from freshman Nicole Shubert to pull out its third win of the season, 17-16 over Monmouth (2-6).

“It was amazing, well suited for the month of March with all it’s excitement due to basketball’s March Madness,” head coach Julie Weiss said. “It was a thriller and was a very important victory for our team, in terms as far as gaining experience and building confidence.”

It took just 2:07 for La Salle to jump out to a 3-0 lead with goals coming from junior Catie Borneman (2 goals), sophomore Emily Bonczek (5 goals and 1 assist), and senior Kat Prokop (3 goals).

Monmouth answered back with its own scoring barrage by scoring four goals in just over three minutes to take a 4-3 lead. The two teams then found themselves locked in a back and forth battle, tying the game at six, seven, eight and nine.

However, that didn’t last, as Monmouth was eventually able to etch out a 12-10 lead going into the intermission.

La Salle tried to claw its way back into the game when they cut the Monmouth lead to 14-13, but then went down 16-14. Thus, the team found itself needing the equalizing goals with just two minutes left in the contest. Freshman Mara Sardella scored her only goal of the match with 2:07 remaining. After a furious set of events, the Explorers tied the game at 16 with just 29 seconds left on Prokop’s third goal of the game.

However, the heroics did not end there, because with less than a second left on the game clock Shubert netted her first goal, giving La Salle an unbelievable comeback victory.

“It was a huge goal, and she demonstrated poise under pressure,” Weiss said. “She entered the game in the second half with such confidence, and I had confidence in her. That’s her spot; her bread and butter is the crease roll, and she showed why.”

Bonczek had six points, including a game-high five goals. She was joined on the stat sheet by senior Kristen Davis, 4 goals and 2 assists. La Salle also led in draw controls (20-14) and ground balls (31-29).

The team used both junior Brittany Friedrich and sophomore Chantelle McCormick in net en -route to its third victory of the season.

The Explorers’ next game will be this Wednesday at McCarthy Stadium at 4 p.m. when the team takes on the Lafayette Leopards.

The team will then go on the road to play its first A-10 game against St. Joesph’s on Saturday, April 1 at noon.

“Lafayette will be a challenge, and it will be a competitive game,” Weiss said. “They have a young squad just like us, and I expect them to be very aggressive, considering we beat them pretty handily last year.

“Obviously, St. Joe’s is a huge rival for us, so I’m excited to open the A-10 season against them. It’s supposed to be a gorgeous day, and I know the girls’ adrenaline will be through the roof.”

pettm1@lasalle.edu

Frank Visco contributed
to this article.