March 28, 2010
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Box Score
PHILADELPHIA-A second half scoring explosion against Duquesne helped La Salle Lacrosse extend its undefeated conference record to 2-0 with a 13-11 victory over the Dukes on Sunday at McCarthy Stadium.
Sitting on 99 goals for her La Salle (6-4 overall) career, senior Stefany McKee wasted no time clinching the milestone. For the second straight game, McKee scored the game’s first goal. Against the Dukes, McKee picked up her 100th goal while wearing the Blue and Gold, 25 seconds into the contest to get the Explorers ahead quickly. McKee became the fifth Explorer all-time to gather 100 goals in a La Salle career (see list at bottom of story).
Despite La Salle’s early lead, the Dukes didn’t back down. If anything, Duquesne was jumpstarted into scoring the next three goals to take a commanding 3-1 lead. The Dukes’ high-pressured defense was effective in the first half, while forcing La Salle to make 11 turnovers. Because of the strong defensive effort, Duquesne was able to maintain a three-goal lead heading into halftime.
La Salle’s 11 giveaways are maybe what caused itself to be down at the break, but all that seemed to be rectified over the course of the second half. The Explorers toned down its turnovers dramatically by committing only two in the entire second half, which seemed to bode well when taking into account its late second half offensive production.
Down 6-3 to open the second stanza, Duquesne continued to pour goals on the Explorers. In the first eight minutes of the half, Duquesne’s lead increased to a four-goal advantage.
Through the first 15 minutes of the second half, it seemed as if the Explorers would crawl toward Duquesne’s lead only to be sent back each time.
After La Salle cut Duquesne’s lead back to a three-goal advantage for the fourth time, Duquesne regained its four-goal distance when it adjusted the score to 10-6 in its favor.
Before sophomore Cailin Colegrove tallied for Duquesne to give it a 10-6 lead, freshman Casey Denk was sidelined with a yellow card for slashing.
Still with an attacker short, La Salle suddenly began battling with a vengeance. Junior Ashley Rutz started a run that the Explorers used to make a comeback.
Rutz’s goal was the first of six that caused the Explorers to find its way back in this one, helping them tie and then eventually regain the lead.
Over the course of that six-goal run, senior Jill Davis picked up half of the output, scoring three of the six, causing her to finish with five goals on the day for the second straight game. Davis scored on back-to-back free position shots following Rutz’s goal in the final 13 minutes, which trimmed Duquesne’s lead to a 10-9 advantage.
Freshmen Melanie Sarcinello and Lauren McDermott have been an immediate impact to La Salle’s program, and on Sunday they continued to make good first-year impressions.
Sarcinello scored her second goal of the day on a free-position to tie the game at 10 a piece. Exactly two minutes later, McDermott officially brought the Explorers back, helping them regain the lead on her second goal of the day.
Davis went on to provide an insurance goal with 4:20 remaining before Colegrove scored for Duquesne in the game’s final 1:09 to stir up an interesting ending.
McDermott completed a four-point game with three goals and an assist when she sealed the 13-11 win for the Explorers in the last second.
The win hoists La Salle’s record to 6-4 on the year, which matches the 2005 squad with the best start in program history through 10 games. The 2005 team went on to finish with a program-best nine wins that season.
Also, La Salle’s 2-0 start in Atlantic 10 Conference play makes it the first time in program history that the Explorers have began their conference slate undefeated through the first two games.
La Salle looks to extend its two-game winning streak when it wraps up its current three-game home stand on Thursday at 2 p.m. against the Saint Joseph’s Hawks at McCarthy Stadium.
La Salle’s All-time Goal Scorers
1. Jami Wilus (1999-02)-230
2. Emily Bonczek (2005-08)-199
3. Kate Henwood (2002-05)-122
4. Kristen Davis (2003-06)-116
5. Stefany McKee (2007-present)-101
6. Mary Quinlan (1998-01)-95
7. Jill Davis (2007-present)-91
