Photo courtesy of Ramapo Athletics
The women’s lacrosse team held off a late surge by Rutgers-Camden in which the Raptors scored six goals in the final nine minutes to win their first New Jersey Athletic Conference game of the season 14-13 on Saturday.
Junior Lindsay Hughes scored five goals and picked up an assist to help lead the Roadrunners to victory. Freshman Beth McGraw scored three goals and had two assists to extend her goal-scoring streak to four games.
Sophomore Alison Gacsi and freshman Alyssa Tachon each scored two goals in the win. Freshmen Alexandra Tray and Gabriella Razzano each chipped in with a goal of their own.
The Roadrunners found themselves trailing 5-1 midway through the first half of the game before Hughes pulled her team within three goals as she found the back of the net with 13:43 to go in the half.
Ramapo found a way to tie the game in the last six minutes of the first half with three goals from two of the team’s freshmen. Tachon scored her first goal of the game with 5:53 to go before scoring again with just over a minute in the half to bring her team within one.
McGraw scored her second goal of the game with just three seconds left to play to tie the game at 5-5 before halftime. She also scored the first goal of the game that put the Roadrunners up 1-0 less than two minutes into play.
The Roadrunners continued to score in the beginning of the second half as they would score five more times in the first 10 minutes to pull ahead 10-5.
Ramapo held a 14-7 lead with just 10 minutes left of play before Rutgers-Camden scored six straight goals to nearly tie the game. Rutgers-Camden sophomore Cecilia Gross scored her fourth of the game with just 31 seconds to go to bring her team within a goal at 14-13, the game’s final score.
The win brought the Roadrunners to 1-1 in the NJAC, but they would fall to the Conference’s top team, the Montclair Red Hawks 21-4 on Tuesday.
Montclair scored 14 goals in the first half en route to the lopsided win. Junior Kasey Maguire led her team with five goals and an assist. Junior Alexa DiPiero and sophomore Francesca Verrone scored four goals each for the Red Hawks and senior Jenna Bussiere chipped in with three.
Five other Montclair players had one goal apiece.
Three freshmen found their way onto the scoreboard for the Roadrunners. Tachon scored two goals and had an assist on a goal by McGraw. Manley also found the back of the net for the Roadrunners.
Tachon’s two goals were her 26th and 27th of her career as a Roadrunner as she continues an impressive freshman season. She is second on the team in scoring behind junior Lindsay Hughes, who has 41 goals this season.
The Red Hawks improve their NJAC record to 4-0 in the NJAC as they take over first place in the Conference. They move past TCNJ, who is currently 3-0 and will play their next NJAC Conference match against Montclair on Sunday.
Both of the Roadrunners’ NJAC losses have come to the Conference’s top two teams so far this season. Ramapo was defeated 17-2 by TCNJ on April 4.
Ramapo will play their next NJAC Conference match on Saturday when they host Rowan
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