Photo Courtesy of Susquehanna Athletics
By Ashley Nace
The Rowan University Women’s Lacrosse team brought down a major 18-7 win on Susquehanna University in Saturday afternoon’s game on Sassafras Field.
The game escalated quickly as the Profs put the first goal in the bottom right of the net to get their name up on the board first.
Susquehanna struggled to get the ball past half field in the first quarter due to missed passes and forced turnovers, events that became a theme for the game.
Susquehanna junior Waverly Oake-Libow, who assisted all four goals in the first half of the game, said that in frustrating games like this, the most important thing for the team is to slow down.
“I think that if we just slow it down, we’re going to see the results that we want,” said Oake-Libow.
But the Profs put their foot on the pedal, scoring their second goal with 6:41 on the clock that started a scoring streak, as they drove in four more goals in the next three minutes.
Susquehanna junior Sophia Trively scored the first goal for the team with 1:17 left in the first, but the Profs had enough time to throw in one more with a second left on the clock.
The River Hawks had a lot of ground to cover entering the second quarter down 7-1, but the Profs came out first, scoring the first goal in the first minute of play.
Susquehanna sophomore Sloane Coddington scored another goal after the team strung together several nice passes to advance down the field.
The Profs scored two more goals before the River Hawks first-year Abby DiComes scored one. The Profs followed up by scoring another three goals.
Each goal for the Profs broke through the River Hawks defense and had a shot right in front of the net, giving the River Hawks’ goalie, Aerin O’Brien limited reaction time.
The River Hawks kept their heads high and continued to press on for more goals.
“We see it in practice. I see other people succeed in practice and I know it can translate into a game,” said Oake-Libow.
Before the half ended, with 18 seconds to go, Abby Andrus scored a goal in to the send the game into halftime 14-4.
Playing into Susquehanna’s struggle to score in the first half was their lack of draw control wins. The Profs beat the River Hawks 22-4 in draw controls throughout the course of the game.
Unfortunately for the River Hawks, the game did not go much more in their favor the second half of play.
Similarly to the second quarter, the Profs scored their first goal within the first minute of play.
O’Brien made several nice saves in the early moments of the third, earning her 500th career save.
More incomplete passes, along with forced turnovers from the Profs continued to plague the River Hawks, leading to two more Rowan goals.
Andrus ended the third with a goal for the River Hawks with only 46 seconds to go.
“Looking from how we played against Shenandoah our first game to now, I could see that everyone on the offensive end and defensive and midfield has gotten so much more confident with their decision making,” Oake-Libow said.
The River Hawks, trailing the Profs 17-5, let up their final goal of the game 42 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Makaela Larkin and Trively scored the last goals in the fourth for Susquehanna as the game winded down.
Though the River Hawks got the ball for the final drive of the game after the Profs ran out of time on the shot clock, the River Hawks couldn’t net another goal, tallying up the final score to an 18-7 loss.
Rowan outshot Susquehanna 34-15 by the end of play. But the River Hawks aren’t giving up hope this early in the season.
“I think that we can begin to master our plays,” said Oake-Libow. “I think that with just focus and confidence, a lot of confidence, that we’re going to be able to put that into especially landmark play.”
The River Hawks will be back in action on Sassafras Field Wednesday at 4 p.m. when they match up against Alvernia University.