The Rowan lacrosse team finished off the regular season with a dominant 21-2 win against Montclair State on Saturday, April 29.
Senior goalkeeper Reilly Shaup started in the cage for the last game before the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) tournament.
“Today we came in with a mindset of what’s coming after this and we just wanted to really perfect our play,” Shaup said. “So, the fact that we could do that to our best ability just really emphasized what we’re doing right now.”
Junior captain, Hannah Lombardo got the offense started by scoring two goals in the game, one occurring just 35 seconds into the game. During the fourth quarter, the offense was provided by several new players such as Yasmin Harris, Fiona Lockhart, and Trish Gillen.
Freshman, Elaina Corson continued her offensive performance by leading the team with four goals, one assisted by her sister, Julianna Corson who scored two goals. Senior Jamie Cutrera also earned a hat trick, finishing the regular season with a career-best 49 goals.
Montclair State’s Joelle D’Angelo would score the only two goals for her team as Rowan’s defense aggressively caused turnovers and kept them off the board.
Head Coach Lindsay Delaney is proud the defense had a chance to rebound in this game before the tournament arrives.
“Our defense played a much better, more controlled game than at Stockton so I think they achieved their goals in that sense, their arms were good, their sticks were in control and their bodies were in control, so I was proud of them for that,” Delaney said.
At the forefront of Rowan’s defense were Molly Green and Ryley O’Brien. O’Brien took care of business by gaining control in the draw circle while Green forced turnovers that turned into offensive chances for the Profs.
“I think the defense was huge [today] and was consistent all the way through, I mean they didn’t score after the first quarter,” Green said. “We had huge performances from freshman O’Brien coming in and winning those draws, so we have people that are able to shine in their own respect and we’re able to get the win.”
Coach Delaney and the Profs are now gearing up for the NJAC tournament as they look to make some last-minute changes.
“I want our shot selections to be better, during the second half we kind of struggled getting shots at the net,” Delaney said. “I want the balls off the draw circle to be more in our favor because O’Brien had an awesome day on the draw and we were still coming up short on our shots,” said Delaney.
Goalkeeper Shaup is looking to continue improving the team’s communication skills during the tournament.
“I love it when my defense talks without me having to really emphasize any lows that we’re having,” Shaup said.
With that being said, Green is looking forward to her and her teammates playing a strong, complete game together during the tournament.
“I think just want to play a full 60-minute game, we don’t want to have any slow starts or lows,” said Green. “We don’t really want our coach to have to take time out to give us a talking-to, so I think just putting together a full game and trusting each other.”
The Profs will host Stockton University on Wednesday, May 3, for the Semifinal Round of the NJAC tournament.
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