ALFRED, NY - The Alfred University women's lacrosse team had a narrow 15-14 loss to Thiel College on Saturday afternoon from Yunevich Stadium.
The Saxons (0-3, 0-0 Empire 8) battled back and forth with the Tomcats (4-2, 0-0 PAC) but were unable to come away with the win.
Amelia Booth (Staatsburg, NY/FDR) led the Saxons with five goals and two assists. Brenna Turner (Bentonville, AR/Bentonville) had four goals of her own, along with an assist. Hailey Stroh (Houghton, NY/Homeschool) and Kylee Bedette (Waterloo, NY/Waterloo) both added two goals for the Saxons as well. Alyssa Piechota (Webster, NY/Webster) recorded 17 saves for AU.
"We continue to see improvement all over the field. We were much more composed in our clear game and offensively and were able to get off way more shots today." Head Coach Julie Decker said.
Goals from Booth and Turner helped the Saxons jump out to a quick lead over the Tomcats. Thiel responded by scoring a goal of their own, before another Saxon goal to lead 3-1. The Tomcats scored three straight to lead 4-3 and from this point on both teams traded goals back and forth. 12 of the 29 total goals in the game were scored in the first quarter as it came to a close at 7-5 Tomcats.
"We'll continue to work on developing a blue collar mentality on our 50/50 balls, and being able to come up with those to win more possessions and give our team more offensive opportunities." Decker said.
The game was knotted in a tie seven times throughout the afternoon. Alfred University brought the game to all-square at 10 apiece to start the third quarter with a goal from Bedette. Thiel College was able to build a small three-goal lead to start the fourth quarter at 14-11. AU rallied back though, scoring two straight to cut the lead to 14-13 with 7:56 to play. The Tomcats scored once more, but the Saxons weren't done yet. Unfortunately, a late goal from Booth with 3:57 remaining wasn't enough to complete the comeback.
Alfred University will play at Buffalo State College on Wednesday, March 22 at 6:00 PM.
