It was another tight game that was dropped by the Rowan women’s lacrosse team, as they fell to the Scranton Royal Wolves 12-11 in a physical and windy match.
This loss is another one that head coach Lindsay Delaney and her young lacrosse team can add to the list of games that should have been in their favor if it wasn’t for a turnover with under thirty seconds to go in regulation.
“Our team is fit, they are competitive, they have great sticks, they play as a team, and they play good lacrosse, we’re just coming up short in these very competitive games, which is really unfortunate for our young group,” coach Delaney said with a stern look peering through her sunglasses.
The game started with Rowan clicking on all cylinders offensively, especially Molly Green, who finished the game with two goals. She was able to get creative and shifty through Scranton’s hefty defense to score what turned out to be the most elusive goal of the game.
“When I get in moments like that I kind of just close my eyes and pray,” Green said with a little smile. “I just tried to wiggle my way through. I knew they were going for my stick, so I tried to keep my stick towards my body and just find the front of the net.”
Defenders have had a hard time keeping up with Green throughout the season due to her speed and elusiveness, and those traits shined again today.
“I kind of just look at their body language. I think a lot of times when I have the ball, I could tell that they were overplaying and leaning towards my stick, so I just tried to play off of that and just take what they were giving me,” Green said.
The fearless head coach seemed to want a patient and methodical offense through the four quarters, and it was early on, as they came out scoring five goals in the first. However, the Royal Wolves picked up on it and exploited the Profs’ patience with fast goals.
“I think the style of their defense that they played called for a patient attack with a lot of ball movement, so I’m really proud of them for keeping their heads up and finding the open look and taking time off the clock,” Delaney said. “So I think the whole part was to not fall into the defensive trap throwing the ball in the middle even though it was open, and I think they did a great job of making two or three passes before they got the ball.”
On the defensive side of the ball, goalie Mel Rodgers had herself a great day, totaling a new season-high 14 saves in this game. When it came down to credit for her saves though, she wasn’t shy to give it to her teammates.
“Honestly, without them, I’d be a mess,” Rodgers said. “They are working so tirelessly to try to make each shot that the other team takes easier for me whether that be with their footwork or their sticks. They’re just trying to make it the cleanest possible way for me to get the ball.”
Things started to fall apart for Rowan in the second quarter when the Royal Wolves scored three unanswered goals to take the lead. From there, the Profs were in catch-up mode and looked to be depleted towards the end of the fourth quarter. Delaney looked visibly upset about the way the game had ended.
“I really thought we could handle the draw circle, and I thought we could do a better job on the push situations,” Delaney said. “And then defensively we started to go into a markout defense against their number eight since she got three or four on us, so we tried to take her away in the fourth quarter as well.”
The lacrosse team will look to figure out how to get back to .500, with two road games coming up against Stevenson and Cabrini.
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