Box Score Box Score

CHESTER, Pa. - Lycoming College women's lacrosse senior attacker Amanda Baker tallied the game-winning goal with five minutes left in regulation to advance the Lady Warriors to the semifinals of the 2010 Middle Atlantic Conference Tournament, defeating Widener University 10-8 on Tuesday, May 4. 

"We struggled in the first half a bit and they got a couple of runs on us," said head coach Erica Brown. "But in the second half, we started to play our game, from start to finish it was a total team effort." 

Down 8-5 midway through the second half, the Lady Warriors (10-7) put on their rally caps and strung together five unanswered goals to finish the game. Senior Sammi Jo Bell started the run to victory after finishing a pass from fellow senior Megan McIntyre, closing the gap to 8-6. With 13:45 left in the game, Baker found the back of the net on a fast break to pull Lycoming within one goal of the lead. 

After driving towards the cage, sophomore Grace Gargiulo drew a foul and was awarded a free position shot. She beat the Pride netminder to the far pipe to knot the contest at eight. Following Baker's game winner, senior Justine Titko tallied an insurance goal and seal the ticket to the second round for Lycoming. 

"We looked much better in the draw game in the second half," said Brown. "Defense played huge for us and they (Widener) had no answer for what we dished out." 

Three was the magic number in the first half. The Pride (11-7) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but the Lady Warriors rallied and tied the tilt on a three goal run of their own. Baker posted the first Lycoming goal. Freshman Brooke Strausser tallied her first collegiate playoff goal with 13:42 remaining in the opening period. Gargiulo knotted the affair with her 23rd goal of the season at the 7:34 mark. But Widener again put together another three-goal run to take a 6-3 lead into the break. 

Baker finished her day with four goals while Gargiulo and Titko each scored twice. Bell and Strausser both tallied one score. McIntyre and senior midfielder Brianna Robertson each registered an assist. In the cage, Brittany Bryan made seven stops. As a team, the Lady Warriors outshot Widener 30-22, including 17 in the second half. 

One of the keys to victory for Lycoming was forcing the Pride into 23 turnovers, while only recording 14. The Lady Warrior defense was solid, holding Jackie Elliot, the conference's second-leading scorer, to just two goals, well below her average of 4.35. Both teams struggled in the clearing aspect, with the Lady Warriors gaining the offensive zone 14 out of 21 attempts, but held Widener to only 13 clears in 17 tries. 

Lycoming awaits the result of the FDU-Florham versus Eastern University score to determine their next opponent. An FDU victory sends Lycoming to Elizabethtown College, while and Eastern win would have Lycoming travel to Messiah College. The next round is set for Thursday, May 6. Time to be determined.