March 23, 2011

Box Score

The Emmanuel College women's lacrosse team earned its first win in program history on Wednesday evening when a last minute score by freshman Jenny Konecnik (Sparta, N.J.) gave the Saints a thrilling 9-8 win over visiting Wheelock College. The Saints improved to 1-2 on the season while the Wildcats dropped to 0-3.

The game was a tale of two halves as Emmanuel opened the game with a strong offensive display. Emmanuel grabbed the edge right off the opening draw with two quick goals by juniors Madeline Leahy (Cohasset, Mass.) and Logan Carr (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) before Wheelock responded with one to cut the lead to one. The Saints then surged forth with five consecutive goals, including a hat trick from senior Kristina Marik (Bardonia, N.Y.) and Carr's eighth score of the season.

Not to be outdone, the Wildcats responded with two goals before halftime to send the two teams into the break with the score 7-3.

At the start of the second half, it was Wheelock who put in a strong showing on the field, scoring five straight goals to take an 8-7 lead with 14:44 remaining in the game. Sophomore Despina Savvoulides (Norwalk, Conn.) and teammate Karlye Kennedy (Byfield, Mass.) each tallied three goals on the spree to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game.

Emmanuel fired back with just under 10 minutes left in the half when Carr notched a hat trick to tie the game at 8-8. From that point on, a back and forth stalemate was in the mix with both squads looking for the goal to bring each school its first win of the season.

The final score came with 39 second left on the clock, as Konecnik found the back of the net for the second time in the game to give the Saints a 9-8 win. Emmanuel freshman goalie Hillary Dandurant (Merrmiac, Mass.) provided a strong backing for the Saints with 10 saves on the night. Sophomore Alexandra Perry (Malden, Mass.) was equally impressive in net for the Wildcats, stopping six shots for the visitors.

The Saints will play again this Saturday when they will take on Mount Ida College in the first GNAC matchup of the season at 1:00 p.m. on Roberto Clemente Field.