READING, Pa. – An eight-point effort from
Maggie Merrill (Marriottsville, Md./Marriotts Ridge) helped lead the Hood College women's lacrosse team to a 13-11 win over Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth rival Albright College.
Inside the Box Score
Merrill finished the day with four goals and four assists.
Menna Salem (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) scored a career-high five goals and picked up three ground balls.
Abbey Bolingbroke (Jefferson, Md./Brunswick) won eight draw controls.
Tayton Barrett (Georgia, Vt./Rice Memorial) made 11 saves in the win.
How it Happened
The Blazers' offense got going quickly, with
Geneva DiRe (Lebanon Township, N.J./Voorhees) opening the scoring just 25 seconds in. A
Natalie Benincasa (Wallkill, N.Y./Valley Central)-caused turnover gave them another offensive opportunity quickly, and Salem capitalized on it with her first of the game to double the lead. Albright did not take long to respond though, scoring back-to-back to tie the game 2-2. DiRe's second of the game with just over a minute restored Hood's lead, but it did not last long, as Paige Lipp responded for Albright just 18 seconds later.
Salem and Merrill continued their collaboration into the second quarter, connecting on the next two goals to restore the Blazers' lead. Unfortunately, a 4-1 run for the Lions, including three goals in the final 2:38 of the half, put Albright in front 7-6 at halftime.
Quarter three quickly became the Merrill show, as the graduate student scored all four goals for Hood in the period and kept the Blazers in it with a 10-10 tie heading into the fourth quarter.
The first five minutes of the fourth were controlled by Hood, with the visiting Blazers scoring three times in those five minutes to take a 13-10 lead. After that offensive outburst, neither team could get anything past the other's goalie, and after a Lions goal with 5:23 left that cut Hood's lead to two, a yellow card on Albright with just over four minutes to play killed any momentum the Lions had. Although the Blazers were unable to convert on back-to-back free position shots, they were able to force a turnover with just under two minutes left and kill the remainder of the quarter and secure a 13-11 win.
For the Opponent
Riley Basht scored four goals for Albright.
Zoe Dicks finished with six points from three goals and three assists.
Notes
The Blazers improve to 6-5 (2-1), while the Lions drop to 7-6 (1-2).
Up Next
Hood returns home for a MAC Commonwealth matchup against Messiah University Wednesday, April 15 at 6 p.m.
