Women’s Lacrosse beat Albion College 22-9 on Sunday, March 18, in Selby Stadium. Junior Molly Curry scored a career high of 5 goals.
The match was the third game played during spring break for the Bishops. The two previous games were split 1-1 in a tournament played in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Head Coach Margaret Grossman said she was a little concerned about the team losing focus.
“It is a lot to travel, play some great competition, have fun away from campus and then to come back and be thrown into a Sunday afternoon game,” she said. “We learned how to refocus ourselves and get back into playing ‘our game’ and not letting the level of the other team dictate how we are going to play. While I was a little concerned, I knew that by the end we were going to come out stronger and more mentally tough than when we started the game.”
Despite Grossman’s initial concern, the Bishops came out strong on Sunday. Curry scored within the first 12 seconds of the game followed by a goal 40 seconds later from freshman midfielder Abbie Love, giving the Bishops a 2-0 lead in the first minute of play.
Within the first five minutes of play, the Bishops led 6-1. Albion College (Britons) rallied back in the first half with leading scorers Melissa DiRado and Ashley Glenn. Their effort wasn’t enough to fight off the Bishops coming out of the half with 4 straight goals, which extended their lead to 21-6. OWU went on to win, 22-9.
The team got a running clock in the first half of play. A running clock occurs when the game timer continues after a goal is made. When one team is ahead by 10 or more points, it is started.
This is the team’s second running clock game of the season. Grossman said this is never the goal, but it really builds the team confidence and morale.
“Running clocks were something this team was accustomed to last season, so for them to be on the other end of that is exciting,” she said. “It shows their hard work and determination to never stop.”
Sophomore midfielder defender Theresa Wolfgang said she disagreed with Grossman. Grossman said a running clock was not the goal from a coaches perspective. Wolfgang said as a player it was.
“We had two goals as a team,” Wolfgang said. “One was to get a running clock and two, was to score 21 points for Molly (Curry’s) birthday.”
Curry opened the game with a score and was the second leading scorer. She said it was a great team win.
“It was a great feeling to win by that much on my birthday,” she said. “I think the team came together and realized what needed to be done right at the start of the game. We will see more competitive teams when we start playing our conference, but I think if we focus and play together like we have been, we will be successful.”
Swanson led the Bishops with 6 goals and 2 assists and junior midfielder Meredith Wholley added 3 goals and 2 assists.
The Bishops are now 4-1 in pre-conference play.
They have two more games before their first conference match against Alleghany College.
“We have played competitions at all levels. (It) is just helping us get better,” Grossman said. “(It) help(s) us gain confidence and be more prepared for the conference portion of the season. If we improve our level of play each game we will be ready for Allegheny and the rest of the conference.”