SCRANTON, Pa. – MIT came within one goal with 9:43 left to play, but host University of Scranton produced an insurance goal almost two minutes later and held on for a 12-10 victory in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship on Saturday at Weiss Field. Junior
Ashley Thomas (Summit, N.J.) tallied one goal, five assists, two groundballs, and a caused turnover for the Engineers.
THE BASICS:
- Score: Scranton 12, MIT 10
- Records: MIT (13-8 Overall); Scranton (15-5 Overall)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- MIT opened the scoring at the 10:23 mark when junior Gwen Flusche (Ridgewood, N.J.) redirected a feed from Thomas. Scranton tied the game almost three minutes later and added two more goals to take a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.
- The Royals continued to pull away, extending their lead to 7-1 with 5:57 left in the second stanza.
- The Engineers ended their scoring drought when the Flusche-Thomas connection returned at the 4:22 mark. However, Scranton found the back of the net almost a minute later. With 47 seconds remaining, MIT narrowed the gap to 8-3 after first-year Alexis Reinard (Nottingham, Pa.) scored on a pass from junior Annica Lam (Livingston, N.J.).
- The Royals scored 1:25 into the third quarter, but the Engineers countered with four goals in a span of four minutes, narrowing the gap to 9-7 at the 7:20 mark. Thomas started the run with an unassisted goal and then set up goals by senior Julianne Flusche (Ridgewood, N.J.), Gwen Flusche, and a player-advantage strike by Lam.
- Scranton created some breathing room with 5:20 on the clock but Reinard found Lam for a player-advantage goal, moving the score to 10-8 with 2:42 remaining. The Royals replied with a goal with 47 seconds to go.
- Julianne Flusche was a factor in both of MIT's goals in the fourth quarter. She scored after 2:55 expired and then earned an assist on a goal by Gwen Flusche, trimming the deficit to 11-10 at the 9:43 mark.
- After an exchange of possessions, Scranton found the back of the net with 7:20 left to play.
- The remainder of the game was a defensive battle, which featured two saves by sophomore goalie Pauline Vien (Brookline, Mass.)
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Gwen Flusche generated four goals, seven draw controls, and three groundballs while Julianne Flusche posted two goals and one assist.
- Lam notched two goals and one assist as she became the 28th player in program history to record 100 career points.
- Sophomore Alexa Cohen (Media, Pa.) produced two caused turnovers while Vien finished with 19 saves and five groundballs.
- This was the first meeting between both programs.
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