No. 18/17 Women’s Lacrosse Scraps to Narrow 13-11 Loss at No. 3/3 Syracuse
SYRACUSE, N.Y.- No. 18/17 University at Albany women’s lacrosse (9-1, 1-0 AE) nearly handed No. 3/3 Syracuse (11-1, 3-1 ACC) its second home loss of the season on Tuesday night, but the Great Danes fell 13-11 to the Orange in the Carrier Dome. Allie Phelan scored five goals in the loss, while Rachel Bowles had three assists.
“I was so proud of our effort,” said head coach John Battaglino. “We had some great defensive stands, and we sped up as the game went along. I just wish we had another five minutes.”
UAlbany started the game on their heels, surrendering four-straight draw controls. The Great Danes struggled to get the ball through the midfield, ceding a 6-1 deficit early.
Syracuse continued to get down into the UAlbany end on the fast break, but big saves from Anna Berman kept the Purple & Gold in the game. The senior goalkeeper stepped in to intercept a Syracuse pass at the top of the crease with 10 minutes gone. She also held the Orange to an 0-2 clip on free position shots in the first half.
Despite an 11-2 draw control advantage for Syracuse in the first half, the Great Danes began forcing turnovers following the draws and heading towards goal. Katherine Sweeney fired a shot with 14 minutes left in the half that was saved, but Rachel Bowles battled for the rebound and eventually found Savitcheff to close the deficit to four, 6-2.
Bowles found her touch on the defensive end as well, intercepting a pass at midfield to set up Allie Phelan’s first goal. The senior midfielder converted on a free position shot with 11 minutes left in the first half.
After Syracuse failed to find the back of the cage on a breakaway down the field, Phelan scored her second goal of the game to make the score 7-4. UAlbany ended the first half on a 4-1 run thanks to three goals from Phelan.
Kathleen Lennon forced a turnover after Syracuse called timeout with 47 seconds left in the half. The Orange eventually regained possession, but Berman made a last-second save to send the Purple & Gold into the locker room down 7-5.
Syracuse came out strong to begin the second half, going on a 3-0 run to take a 10-5 lead with just four minutes gone.
The Great Danes responded with a three-goal run of their own. Lennon forced a Syracuse turnover, making way for Martin to find Maureen Keggins down the right side for the score.
Martin tallied her first goal of the game shortly thereafter from Bowles, making an off-balance underhanded shot to make the score 10-7 with 21 minutes left. Phelan notched her fourth of the game man-up to get UAlbany within two.
The Purple & Gold handled the Syracuse pressure deep in its own end mid-way through the second half to maintain the two-goal deficit. Meghan Haney and Christine Johnson dodged defenders in the midfield to give the Great Danes a chance to get back in the game.
Phelan scored her second-straight goal and fifth of the game with 10:29 left to narrow the deficit to one goal, 10-9.
“We’re a big momentum team,” said Phelan. “Once we start scoring we challenge each other to keep going. We just tried to fight through when we weren’t doing so well, and we just wanted to get people in there to score as much as possible.”
With the momentum in UAlbany’s favor, Berman made a free position shot save with nine minutes left to give the Great Danes a chance to tie the game.
After Syracuse took an 11-9 lead, UAlbany yet again made the Orange pay on a man-up opportunity. Martin streaked down the middle for her second goal of the game on an assist from Bowles with 7:15 left.
The Orange converted on two free position shots to UAlbany’s one down the stretch, enough to take the 13-11 victory.
Phelan matched her single-game career high with five goals. The senior has scored 10 goals in the last two games.
Berman finished the game with 11 saves to her credit against the No. 5 scoring offense in the nation.
No. 18/17 UAlbany (9-1, 1-0 AE) visits Vermont (10-2, 1-0 AE) for its first league road game of the season on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
