The Rowan women’s lacrosse team won their second straight game 16-7 on Wednesday, March 1, as they hosted the Drew University Rangers.
Rowan’s offense dominated right out of the gate with senior Jamie Cutrera scoring two of her three goals in the first few minutes of the first quarter. Fellow senior Julianna Corson aided Cutrera in scoring, as she added two of her four goals and an assist in the first quarter to help lift Rowan to a 10-3 lead at halftime.
Rowan’s defense also had a strong game, forcing pressure on Drew’s offense which lead to some scoring chances. Senior goalkeeper Reilly Shaup was an important factor for the defense as she made incredible saves to keep Drew off the board for the majority of the first quarter.
Part of Rowan’s defensive strategy was to pick up on turnover chances by putting pressure on Drew and anticipating plays to make interceptions. Sophomore Molly Green was one of the players who racked up a few interceptions to provide the team with extra offensive opportunities.
“That’s honestly my favorite part of the game. I don’t even care if I don’t score but I love finding interceptions,” Green said. “It’s a huge momentum shift that you can hear my teammates get excited about on the sidelines. We had quite a few interceptions or big ground balls, it’s definitely something that feels good, you maintain possession for your team.”
After losing out on possessions because of the 50/50 ball last season, junior captain Hannah Lombardo has seen the team make a huge leap in that area of their game and create more offensive opportunities as a result.
“The girls and I in the draws this year, we really know other’s personnel and we worked so hard, and we just communicate so well,” Lombardo said. “We really just put the ball where we need to be and then we come up on those 50/50 balls. Those 50/50 balls last year were something that we struggled with, and this year, that’s definitely one of our strongest points.”
During the second half, Drew made an offensive push in an attempt to get back into the game and put Rowan’s defense on its heels. Their increased possession time and goal saves limited Rowan’s scoring and fueled Drew to score four goals. However, they ultimately came up short in their effort to seal the win from Rowan.
“When you’re down by a lot, you have to come in and you have to score which always puts your defense on its heels because you’re not looking to pass, you’re looking to shoot constantly,” Head Coach Lindsay Delaney said.
With it being early in the season, Lombardo was extremely happy with the team’s communication and their ability to play with one another.
“We were extremely cohesive, we all worked together. We had a little bit of a low but we fought back and we really put them down,” Coach Lombardo said.
The Profs will look to stay undefeated as they take on the Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday, March 4.
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