The Profs’ undefeated start to the season has officially come to an end after a 16-15 loss to Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks on Saturday, March 2.
It was a loss that Rowan’s lacrosse team would say they should have won, but are not hanging their heads and dwelling on it. Instead, they’re taking command and looking to bounce back as they enter the juggernaut portion of their schedule.
Calista Burke, Molly Green, and sophomore Fiona Lockhart were the team’s leading scorers for the Profs, with three goals each.
“I really wanted to beat them,” Lockhart said. “We lost by one last year too.”
The first half of the game was pretty even, with Rowan holding onto a 9-8 lead at the break. Stevens took advantage of Rowan’s defensive mistakes in the third quarter though, as the Ducks would score seven goals to the Profs’ two.
“They scored a few goals with under five seconds left in the possession clock, so if you’re holding a veteran team like that for 85 seconds you’re doing really good things defensively,” Head Coach Lindsay Delaney said. “They just exploited us defensively.”
The third quarter was really a hard time for the Profs, but things turned around in the fourth for a bit.
“We have to fight,” were Delaney’s words of wisdom during the break between the third and fourth quarters. She emphasized that her team needed to compete and persevere through this.
The talk seemed to have worked for the resilient lacrosse team, as the Profs would score four unanswered goals in the fourth to lead them to the 15-15 tie before the Ducks would seal the victory with a game-winning goal.
“I feel like everyone just wanted to do their part,” Lockhart said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way, but, at the end of the day, the blame wasn’t on anyone in particular. We took that loss as a team and we recognize that.”
Looking at the season so far, Delaney is really liking what she’s seeing so far from her players. Despite the youth of this year’s team and an almost entirely new starting lineup, they seem to be picking up where they left off last year. Green has really come into her own this season, already posting a team-high 11 goals in her first three games of the season.
“I tell her every day to be the best on the field, and she is the best on the field,” Delaney said. “Even with Stevens Tech having three outstanding players, she’s up there with them or even better than them.”
Even though Delaney likes what she sees, there’s still plenty of room to grow and become the elite team she knows they can be. She has really put an emphasis on playing a clean game throughout the season and it has shown, as the Profs have only allowed four free-position shots. However, on those four shots, the opposing teams are converting 75 percent of the time on senior goalie Mel Rodgers.
“Mel just needs more time,” Delaney said. “This is her first year starting. She’s a fifth-year, so it may seem like she’s a veteran, but she’s not. In due time she’ll clean that up herself.”
Now 2-1, the Profs will have to fight to halt their losing streak against Washington (MD) at the Rowan soccer and lacrosse complex in Glassboro, NJ on Wednesday, March 6 at 4 p.m.
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