April 21, 2006

Final Stats

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - The one-two punch of junior Katie Hurley and sophomore Brenna Houghton ignited a 9-4 second half run to lead the No. 18 St. Bonaventure women's lacrosse team to 13-11 comeback win over George Washington Friday afternoon at McGraw-Jennings Field.

Hurley finished with five goals, including four in the final period. Like her counterpart, Houghton did most of her damage in the second half, dishing out four of her five assists during crunch time.

The win moves the Bonnies (13-1, 4-1) into a tie with No. 12 Richmond (12-3, 4-1) for first place in the Atlantic 10. The 13 wins is a school record for St. Bonaventure, breaking the previous mark of 12 set in 2003.

"We were confident we could come back even down four goals early," said head coach Tony Zostant. "At halftime we regrouped and came out putting a lot of pressure on them. Once we got the lead we played steadily from there. I feel really good that our seniors got a win in their last home game."

The Colonials opened the game with four straight goals over the first 10:24 to put the Bonnies in a 4-0 hole for the second time in three games.

Back-to-back free position goals from junior Robin Mason and Hurley made the score 4-2 with 15:12 left in the half. GW responded with two straight goals just 38 seconds apart from Laura Hostetler and Laura Wunk to push the lead back to four, 6-2, at the 11:27 mark.

The Bona attack bounced back again with two more scores to make 6-4. Senior Alexis Spallone tallied an unassisted goal, while sophomore Kimberly Ross found the back of the net off a pass from Houghton.

George Washington's goal with 47 ticks left in the half made it a 7-4 count at the break.

St. Bonaventure took over early in the second half as Hurley tallied three goals and Houghton dished out three helpers to highlight a 5-0 spurt. Ross notched her second goal of the game during the run and freshman Katelyn Faas finished things off at the 15:12 mark to give the Bonnies their first lead, 9-7.

GW's Hostetler ended the run with her third goal of the game with 13:23 remaining. Senior Nicole Motondo swung the momentum back into the Bonnies favor with her 34th goal of the season to make it 10-8.

After the Colonials made it 10-9, a goal from Faas and the eventual game-winning tally from Mason made pushed the lead back to three, at 12-9.

Another goal from Hostetler and Kristin Karcsh gave George Washington hope at 12-11 with 2:15 remaining. The Colonial comeback efforts were put to rest with 32 seconds left as Hurley converted a pass from Houghton to seal the win.

St. Bonaventure outshot GW 40-27 and held a 15-11 edge in draw controls.

Sophomore Eboni Preston turned away five second half shots to improve to 8-1 on the season. Junior Eileen Gagnon got the nod in the cage and made five saves before giving way to Preston.

St. Bonaventure honored its six seniors prior to the start of the game. Seniors Sarah Dressler, Courtney Gibbons, Kate McNerney, Nicole Motondo, Meghan Snihur and Alexis Spallone played their final game at McGraw-Jennings Field.

The Bonnies will enjoy a much deserved week off from game play and will return to action on Friday, April 28 at Temple. Draw time is slated for 4 p.m.