Thursday, March 21, 2013 (Newton, Massachusetts) - Trailing 11-5 at halftime, the Mount Ida College women's lacrosse team held visiting Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) member St. Joseph's College (ME) to only two scores in the second half. But the Mustangs would run out of time narrowly missing a possible comeback falling 13-11 Thursday afternoon on a snow laden Alumni Field in Newton, Massachusetts. In light of the recent tragedy that struck Seton Hill University women's lacrosse this past weekend, the hosts honored those lost in this horrible tragedy prior to the game with a moment of silence.
"We're playing this game for them, especially their Head Coach who lost her life (Kristina Quigley)," said home Head Coach Nicole Poli. Every Mustang player wore red shoe laces and red ribbons in their hair to show their support.
Mount Ida tallied the final five goals of the last 22 minutes of the second stanza unable to capitalize offensively late in the contest to tie it up. The foul totals were eye opening seeing the hosts notch a questionable 53 total fouls for the match while the visitors were only called for 16. The Mustangs struggled to clear the ball out of the zone at 12-20 while St. Joseph's (ME) were a near perfect (10-11).
The Mustangs are still searching for the first league victory falling to 0-2 with an overall slate of 1-5. After a loss to Bates College this past week, the Monks get back into the win column improving to 4-3 for the year and a perfect 2-0 in GNAC action.
Sophomore midfielder Amanda Bowen (Randolph, VT/Randolph Union) led the Mustangs with four tallies and one assist while junior attacker Molly Sheppard (Brookhaven, NY/Bellport) added two goals and two helpers. Mount Ida net minder Kayla Musty (Topsham, VT/Oxbow) was impressive keeping her team within striking distance with a handful of clutch saves notching 16 for the afternoon taking the loss.
For the Monks, junior attacker Macy Pagurko (Augusta, ME/Cony) added four scores on five shots with two ground balls. Junior midfielder Cassie Diplock (Augusta, ME/Cony) added three goals while sophomore midfielder Kirstin McCombs (Lewiston, ME/Lewiston) handed out a game high three assists with one tally. Between the pipes for the visitors was junior goaltender Haley Nason (Saco, ME/Thornton Academy) stopping seven Mustang attempts collecting her fourth victory.
After an opening score from the hosts by freshman attacker Maile Melvin (Hebron, CT/RHAM), the Monks went onto notch the next three attempts early in the first half on unassisted bids from Pagurko, Diplock and Adame overtaking their first lead at 3-1.
Following another Melvin tally to pull the Mustangs within one (3-2), St. Joseph's (ME) went on to score the next five goals, three from Pagurko and two from Diplock, with 11 minutes remaining before the midway point commanding an 8-2 advantage.
Mount Ida would add two scores immediately following (8-4), only to see the Monks tack on three more to surge ahead 11-4 with two minutes left before the halfway horn. Bowen tallied the final goal of the opening frame for the hosts with only a few ticks on the clock making it 11-5 at the break.
The squads went back-and-forth in the early stages of the second half with the visitors leading 13-6 capped on a tally from Monk junior attacker Krystal Walsh (Springvale, ME/Sanford). From that point the Mustangs would not surrender another goal slowly creeping toward the visitors attempting to mount a comeback.
Although it was a valiant effort with very solid play all around, Mount Ida was only able to add five scores through the final 22 minutes to ultimately succumb to a 13-11 GNAC loss, their second of the season.
The Mustangs will host non-conference Framingham State University this Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in the back end of a double header with the men's team. St. Joseph's (ME) will play at Maine-Farmington Monday, March 25, 2013 in a non-league bid with game time slated for 3:30 p.m.
