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No. 2 Hamilton women's lax survives upset bid, tops Saints 9-7

Posted 4/15/11

The St. Lawrence University women's lacrosse team nearly shocked the nation on Friday, as the Saints found themselves tied with nationally-ranked No. 2 Hamilton, 7-7, with under 4:00 minutes to …

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No. 2 Hamilton women's lax survives upset bid, tops Saints 9-7

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The St. Lawrence University women's lacrosse team nearly shocked the nation on Friday, as the Saints found themselves tied with nationally-ranked No. 2 Hamilton, 7-7, with under 4:00 minutes to play.  However, Sarah Bray scored her third goal of the game to allow the Continentals to escape Hall-Leet Stadium with a narrow victory.

St. Lawrence, which honored its six members of the Class of 2011 on "Senior Day," falls to 5-8 (3-3) on the season.  Hamilton remains unbeaten in the Liberty League (3-0) and improves to 9-1 on the year.

"I'm so proud of the way we battled one of the top teams in the country this afternoon," said St. Lawrence head coach Jodi Canfield.  "Obviously we would've liked to have pulled off the upset, but our seniors showed great leadership today and understand we need to bounce back next Friday against Rensselaer."

Hamilton closed with a 20-14 advantage in shots, though St. Lawrence had the edge in ground balls, 26-23.  Each team won nine draw controls, but the Saints committed 20 turnovers including 12 in the first half.

The visitors controlled the majority of offensive time in the first half, which led to a 4-1 Hamilton cushion at intermission.  Bray scored the game's opening two goals before junior Paige Powell got the Scarlet and Brown on the scoreboard with 13:01 left in the half.  However, Katie D'Antonio responded with back-to-back goals to close the first half scoring for the Continentals, giving them the 4-1 lead.

St. Lawrence started the second half in style, rolling off three straight goals to tie the score at 4-4 and seizing the momentum.  Sophomore Brigid Hurley made it 4-2 before Morse picked up consecutive goals to tie the score for the first time since 0-0.  After Hamilton's Libby Schulz and St. Lawrence sophomore Stephanie O'Rourke exchanged tallies, the Saints took the lead for the first time at 6-5 when junior Kendall Harty beat Hamilton goalie Sam Elie.  The goal, which came with 16:00 minutes left in regulation, was assisted by senior Kaitlyn Fahsel.

Needing a run, Hamilton turned to Bray, who delivered clutch play after clutch play down the stretch.  She assisted on back-to-back goals from Schultz and Martha Plack to put the Continentals back in front, 7-6.  After Morse made an incredible move around three defenders to tie the game again at 7-7 with 6:09 remaining, Bray delivered a dagger with the game-winning tally with 3:26 to go.

Hamilton's Rachel Friedman would score an insurance goal with 24 seconds left to bring the game to its final score of 9-7.

The St. Lawrence defensive corps of senior Hannah Corkery, junior Margie Bailey, O'Rourke and rookie Regina Rogers did a great job keeping the high-powered Hamilton offense in check throughout the game.  Senior goalie Anna Marchand also made key saves to keep her team in the contest, finishing with seven saves to Elie's four.

The game will likely be the last home game for the six members of the Class of 2011, including Fahsel, Corkery, Marchand, Morse, Kelsey Redpath and Kim Cooper.  The group was honored after the game with a ceremony on North Country Field.

St. Lawrence will take on the Engineers of RPI on Friday, April 22 in Troy, NY at 4:00pm.