SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Towson University women's lacrosse team outscored Stony Brook 8-1 in the second half but it was not enough as the Seawolves claimed a 10-8 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday afternoon in Syracuse, New York.
Stony Brook (17-3) came out hot offensively and jumped out to a 9-0 lead at halftime. Amber Kupres had a first half “hat trick” while Dorrien Van Dyke and Michelle Rubino each scored two goals. Alyssa Cardillo picked up three first half assists for the Seawolves.
Stony Brook outshot the Tigers 10-3 in the first half while Towson won seven of the 10 draw controls. The Tigers (11-8) were hampered by seven first half turnovers.
Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Coach of the Year Sonia LaMonica gave a halftime speech that paid dividends just 15 seconds into the second half. After winning the draw junior attacker Taylor Moore got the Tigers on the board with her 27th goal of the season. Moore's goal at 29:45 was assisted by redshirt senior attacker Ashleigh Rohrback.
Just 19 seconds later the Tigers struck again as sophomore midfielder Breanna Hamm scored off a pass from CAA Rookie of the Year Gabby Cha. Moore scored her second of the game at 21:16 on a free position shot. Stony Brook led 9-3 at that point.
Towson continued its run at 17:23 as Rohrback scored off a pass from CAA Co-Player of the Year Andi Raymond. The Tigers pulled to within four, 9-5 at 14:32 on a goal from junior midfielder Paige Duncan.
The Seawolves pushed their lead back to five, 10-5 on a goal from Van Dyke at 7:24.
Raymond struck for a free position goal at 5:18 which made it a 10-6 game. Moore completed her “hat trick” at 1:07. Moore's goal pulled the Tigers to within three, 10-7.
Towson won the ensuing draw and Raymond quickly buried her second of the game in the back of the net. That made it a 10-8 game with 57 seconds to play. Towson won the next draw and quickly went on offense. However, Stony Brook's Frankie Caridi came up with the save on Raymond's shot and Stony Brook ran out the clock to secure the victory.
Towson outshot Stony Brook 18-5 in the second half and finished the game with a 21-15 advantage in that category. The Tigers won eight of 10 draw controls in the second stanza and finished with a dominating 15-5 advantage in that statistical category.
Caridi was forced to make seven saves to earn the win for the Seawolves. Junior Kelsea Donnelly made two saves in the loss.
Moore had three goals to lead the Tigers while Raymond added two goals and an assist. Raymond also had a career-high six draw controls. Rohrback finished with a goal and an assist while Cha had two helpers.
Kupres and Van Dyke had three goals each to lead the Seawolves while Cardillo finished with four assists.
Towson loses Rohrback, who holds the school record for career assists (91), midfielder Katie Leech who ranks among the top 10 for career draw controls and caused turnovers, midfielder Kelly Murkey and defender Kaitlin Sheridan to graduation. The Tigers return four of their top five scorers
