ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop lacrosse team overcame a sluggish start Monday afternoon to down the Bucknell Bison 19-9 extending its win streak to five games.
Winthrop improved to 6-1 overall and its five-game winning streak is a new program record. Bucknell fell to 2-4 with the loss.
Bucknell put up the first goal of the game 4:31 into the contest and Winthrop responded with back-to-back goals at 23:32 and 22:21 from Kristen Shriver and Logan McCarthy to go up 2-1. The Bison grabbed the next two goals, going up 3-2 with 18:21 remaining in the half.
Jenna Kasmarik tied the game at 3-3 with 14:01 on the clock and Shriver gave the Eagles the lead back less than a minute later. Bucknell knotted the game again at 4-4 with 12:25 on the clock but didn't score again for more than 10 minutes.
The Eagles then went on a 5-0 scoring run to open a 9-4 advantage with just under two minutes left in the half. The Bison got within four at 9-5 with 1:14 on the clock but Danielle Ellis capped off the first half with a tally with 10 seconds left to give the Eagles a 10-5 lead at the half.
Winthrop got out much stronger to start the second half, scoring the first four goals in the opening 8:25 to go up 14-5 before Bucknell got on the board with 20:41 left in the contest. The Eagles' lead hit double digits with 14:39 remaining after tallies from Shriver and McCarthy.
Bucknell cut into the Winthrop lead slightly with back-to-back goals less than a minute apart, pulling within 16-8 with just under 10 minutes remaining. The Eagles responded with three more, going up 19-8 with less than three minutes to go. The Bison tallied the final goal in the closing seconds to reach the 19-9 final score.
Freshman Kristen Shriver led the Eagles with seven points on six goals and one assist. Junior Shannon Gallagher totaled six points on two goals and four assists and also had five caused turnovers and four ground balls. Senior Jenna Kasmarik finished with five goals and junior Logan McCarthy added three.
Freshman Katherine Judge had a standout hustle performance, getting nine draw controls and picking up five ground balls. Freshman goalie Alaina Girani picked up the victory while making six saves.
Winthrop totaled 29 shots for the contest with 23 of them going on goal. The Eagles picked up 24 ground balls to Bucknell's 16 and also won the draw-control battle 16-14. Winthrop was perfect on clearing attempts, going 14-for-14 and was also unblemished on free-position shots, converting all four tries.
The Eagles will head on the road for the first time in more than a month when they take a cross-country trip to California. The Eagles will take on Fresno State Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. EST, 12 p.m. PST.
