Feb. 27, 2009

Box Score

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - In a game that featured seven ties in the second half alone, the St. Bonaventure lacrosse team saw Robert Morris tally four out of the last five goals en route to a 15-12 win on a chilly rain-soaked Friday afternoon.

Robert Morris moves to 1-1 on the season after the victory, while St. Bonaventure drops to 0-1 on the young season.

Leading the way for the Bonnies offensively was junior Molly Hastrich. The Horseheads, N.Y., product tallied six points on five goals and one assist for the game. She fired eight shots from her attack position, with seven of them being on goal. The only other players to score multiple goals for the Brown and White were freshman Emily Kane and Samantha Cavallaro who tallied two goals each.

The Bonnies used a pair of goalies in the game, but neither of the two could stop the bleeding and keep Robert Morris out of the net. Junior Tori Waheibi got the start for St. Bonaventure and was saddled with the loss after allowing 11 goals on 18 shots faced in 44:03 of action. Freshman Victoria Morgan came in during the middle of the second half and did not fare much better, allowing four goals on six shots faced in 15:57 of action.

On paper, the game was a virtual stalemate with both teams almost mirroring each other in every major statistic. St. Bonaventure finished with a 31-29 shots advantage and a 25-24 shots on goal edge as well. The Bonnies held the edge in ground balls 23-20 and had fewer turnovers than the Colonials, 23-16.

The weather seemed to slow down both teams early on as both teams combined to score just nine goals in the first half, with Robert Morris taking a 5-4 lead into intermission.

Both squads seemed to settle in to start the second half as a flurry of offense from both sides ensued. Senior Keri Vito scored just 17 second into the second stanza to tie the game up at 5-5. The Brown and White would take the lead just moments later when Kane hammered home a shot off a pass from Hastrich to make the score 6-5 Bonnies with 27:02 left in the game.

The teams would trade goals over the next 10 minutes of the game, with Hastrich netting her fourth goal of the game to even the score up at 10-10 with 16:22 remaining.

Robert Morris would take over from that point on, however, scoring four out of the next five goals to build a 14-11 lead with just 11:08 to go in the game. That scoring run would prove to be the difference as the Colonials fell back into a defensive formation for the remainder of the game.

Robert Morris was led by freshman Courtney Sicinski who tallied six points on five goals and one assist. Sophomore Ashley Trombetta and senior Kara Blakeley had solid games as well, chipping in three goals apiece.

Junior Erica Webb picked up the win for the Colonials making 13 saves in the contest to even her record out at 1-1.

St. Bonaventure will be back in action on Sunday, March 1, when they travel to take on Big Ten member Ohio State. Game time is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.