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Marchand, Saints laxwomen hold off Union, 8-7

Posted 4/8/11

St. Lawrence University senior captain Anna Marchand made 12 saves, while sophomore Brigid Hurley had a game-high four goals as the Saints women's lacrosse team held off Union College, 8-7, in …

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Marchand, Saints laxwomen hold off Union, 8-7

Posted

St. Lawrence University senior captain Anna Marchand made 12 saves, while sophomore Brigid Hurley had a game-high four goals as the Saints women's lacrosse team held off Union College, 8-7, in thrilling fashion on Friday afternoon at Hall-Leet Stadium.

The Saints improve to 4-6 overall and 2-1 in the league, while the Dutchwomen fall to 5-4 and suffer their first loss in the conference (3-1).  Union's Kristin Joyce scored three goals and became Union's all-time leading goal scorer with her 218th career tally in the first half.  Joyce had a last-second bid at the end of regulation, but her shot sailed just wide of Marchand's cage.

"Union is such a talented team and they battled all the way to the final whistle," said St. Lawrence head coach Jodi Canfield.  "We executed well throughout the game and played outstanding defense in transition and Anna made some clutch saves when we needed them most."

The home team controlled the first half, as St. Lawrence outscored Union 6-3 while outshooting them 15-9.  With the game tied at 3-3 midway through the frame, the Saints rattled off three consecutive goals to build the 6-3 cushion.  Sophomore Stephanie O'Rourke put the Scarlet and Brown on top, while seniors Kim Morse and Kim Cooper followed in a span of 2:04 to cap the first half scoring and give their team the momentum.

St. Lawrence continued to shine early in the second quarter, as Morse answered a goal by Joyce to re-establish the home team's three goal lead at 7-4.  With 21:14 remaining, Hurley scored on a free-position shot to give the Saints their largest lead at 8-4.

Needing to get its offense churning and playing the majority of the game without leading-scorer Melissa Hine, Union went to work in final 20:00 minutes to make a game of it.  The Dutchwomen, who finished with a 21-4 advantage in shots in the second half, attacked Marchand from all sides and were able to get to within two goals with 14:51 remaining thanks to tallies from Brittany Fraser and Kristin Joyce.

The Saints did well to stall and killed over 2:00 minutes of clock time to get under 60 seconds left in regulation up 8-6.  However, Michaela Desimone gave the Dutchwomen a chance with a score with :46 seconds left.  Though St. Lawrence won the ensuing draw control, a turnover would allow Union to push the ball up the field to Joyce.  As she closed in on Marchand, senior defenseman Hannah Corkery closed in and forced the shot wide as time expired, allowing St. Lawrence to storm the field to celebrate the 8-7 win.

Union finished with a 30-20 advantage in shots, but St. Lawrence earned a narrow 21-20 edge in ground balls.  The Saints scored a pair of man-up goals with Hine serving a yellow card, and the Dutchwomen were 0-for-4 on free position shots.  Marchand's 12-save outing gave her the victory over Union goaltender Alexis Deeb, who finished with nine stops.

St. Lawrence will look to extend their two-game win streak tomorrow, Saturday, April 9 when the Saints take on Skidmore College at Hall-Leet Stadium at 2:00pm.