No. 10 Penn State women’s lacrosse team bounced back after a tough loss to No. 7 Loyola, with a dominating 16-9 win on the road against Duquesne Wednesday night.
Penn State controlled the first 30 minutes of play, going into halftime with a comfortable 9-2 lead, not allowing a Duquesne goal for the last 25 minutes of the first half.
“Duquesne is a really hard fighting team and they definitely gave us a fight. Even when we got a lead they were still coming back at us,” head coach Missy Doherty said. “I think we could have finished a couple more shots but overall the team played well.”
The Dukes rallied back quickly in the second half, scoring four goals in the first 10 minutes of play.
“We weren’t getting the draw and we weren’t working as hard on the loose balls [early in the second half]. [Duquense] was coming up with the draws and the ground balls which gave them a lot more possession,” Doherty said.
A quick adjustment of putting senior Katie Guy in the draw maintained the Lions possession in the second half.
Duquesne junior Caitlin Prince was one of three Dukes to meet the net against freshman goalkeeper Emi Smith, scoring six goals in last night’s matchup.
Doherty said that the team did not react to Prince as a maximum team effort, citing her attack as a learning experience for the team as a whole.
Sophomore Maggie McCormick led the Lions with six points in Pittsburgh, with one goal and five assists. Doherty described her as the ‘quarterback’ of the team all season.
Sophomore Kelly Lechner also had a stand out night with three goals and an assist in the first 30 minutes of play.
“She is a really fast player and she has really come up with some pivotal goals, it seems like she is a great crunch time player. When we need a goal, Kelly kind of comes through,” Doherty said.
The team will play No. 6 Virginia on Sunday at 1 p.m. Doherty said last night’s victory put the team back on its feet, ready to compete against a tough Virginia team.
“I think we need to get back on our feet,” Doherty said. “I think we need to compete harder than we did today to beat a team like Virginia.”
