Worcester State Rallies in Second Half to Knock Out Owls

Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Lacrosse team (4-3, 0-0) faced their final Spring Break game this afternoon as they matched up with Keene State in a typical New England Spring game in Panama City Beach, Florida. The Lancers were looking to stay above .500 on their return to New England after dropping a hard fought back and forth battle to Hartwick on Tuesday.

Final:

Keene State: 14

Worcester State: 17

How it Happened:

The Lancers, who saw a majority of their goals against in Florida thus far, come off of free position shots, faced the same issue in their game versus Keene as just under a minute into the game the Owls were awarded an attempt and converted off a sophomore Tess Brown (Londonberry, NH) shot to take a 1-0 lead. Just 45 seconds later Brown would assist graduate student Mindy St. Marie (St. Albans, VT) in motion for Keene to take a 2-0 lead and forcing an early game timeout from the Lancers. Worcester's timeout helped them to regroup but could not slow down the Owls as a minute later another free position attempt was awarded and converted, this time by graduate student Haile Ratajack (Brewster, NY) for goal three. The foul trouble and free position weakness would continue when just over 45 seconds later the Owl's sophomore Annaliese Rudberg (Cape Elizabeth, ME) would make it 4-0 on an attempt. Two back to back fouls and attempts for the Owls would quickly see the score jump out to 5-0 early in the first quarter as Worcester worked to settle their defensive aggressiveness. 

Worcester would record a goal of their own with just over five minutes left in the first quarter on a free position attempt of their own as junior Hannah Erickson (Dunstable, MA) sent the ball whipping past the Owl's sophomore Sarah Howe (Tunbridge, VT). Keene would record one more before the quarter would come to a close for the second quarter to pick up the action in a 6-1 game. 

The second quarter found Worcester settled down and more in control of the transition play early and tempering their aggressive style with steadfast discipline. Three minutes into the new quarter, Keene grabbed goal number seven as they worked their way through the defensive layout to sneak the shot past junior Olivia LaValle (Peabody, MA). Worcester's new centered control game approach saw them quickly respond to Keene's goal with one of their own, this time grabbing another free position attempt for themselves,  as Erickson again rocketed the ball past the keeper. The free position positives kept rolling for the Lancers when, at just over half way through the second quarter, Worcester's first year Madigan Kelley (Bourne, MA) was awarded one in a man up situation that would fly past the goalie for goal number three. The scoring would not slow down either, as barely 20 seconds later sophomore Molly Witkowski (Greenville, NY) would send a pass from first year Meghan Bowen (Westfield, MA)  into the cage to cut into the lead with a 7-4 score. 

With just under five minutes to go, Keene would finally claim another free position shot and goal from Brown against Worcester's buttoned up defense but Worceser would find another level in the final minutes scoring three goals in the final four minutes to push an 8-7 score into the halftime break. The fifth goal for Worcester would come from the pocket of junior Abigail Wing (Griswold, CT) after receiving a quick dish from sophomore Shannon Donahue (Dennis, MA). Just 30 seconds later Witkowski would record another goal, this time off a pass from sophomore Mickayla Fisher (Peabody, MA) and before anyone could get settled again Wing had taken a Kelley draw control and converted it into goal number seven. 

Lavalle would end the first half with three saves while Wing led the Lancers with four shots in the opening 30 minutes. 

Just under a minute into the new half Worcester would tie the game with a man up goal from Fisher assisted by graduate student Shea Jarvis (Auburn, MA). Keene would respond with the one goal lead with their own man up score from Ratajack but that would not stand long as Worcester came right back, this time with the script flipped as Jarvis netted the tying goal from Fisher. Almost two minutes later, the Lancers would grab their first lead of the game on an Erickson free position goal. The Owl's senior Hannah Dworkin (Manchester, VT) would respond with a 10th goal for Keene but now that Worcester had a taste for the lead they were not inclined to give it up. With six and half to go in the third, Kelley would record her own free position goal with the lead extending to two on a Jarvis rocket. She would then complete the hat trick in the game two minutes later when she converted sophomore Cailey Ryan's (Acton, MA) pass for goal number 13. The Owls would claim back one of the goals before the quarter came to a close off another Ratajack attack to close the third at 13-11.

Worcester would continue on their scoring train in the fourth, making up for all the earlier free position goals for the opposition by scoring another, this time off the quick release of Wing. Brown would then contribute to two Owl's goals to bring the lead for Worcester down to one, with just over 11-minutes to go in the final quarter of regulation, resulting in another Lancer's timeout. The pause in play appeared to have had the magic effect on the Lancers as 40 seconds later Jarvis would settle a pass from Witkowski and send it sailing into the net  for goal number 15. It would take over two minutes for the next scoring action but the names would be familiar as Erickson would handle Jarvis' dish for number 16 before Jarvis would dole out another assist with six and a half to go, this time to Witkowski for number 17. 

Keene would make a late push to get back into the game, recording their 14th goal at 1:42 left in the game

LaValle would wrap up the game with five saves, while Erickson would record four goals to go along with Jarvis' four goals and three assists for seven points in the comeback victory for the Lancers. The team would record a 16-20 in clears while scooping up 24 ground balls with 12 caused turnovers.

What's Next:

With the final buzzer the Blue and Gold move to (4-4, 0-0) on the season in their conclusion of Florida action and will return to Massachusetts back at .500. Worcester  return to play next Thursday when they host Johnson and Wales at home at 6pm.