Aaron Johnson
Staff Writer
The SCSU women’s lacrosse team opened up the 2013 campaign Tuesday afternoon at Jess Dow Field. The Owls fell to the St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans by a score of 19-9.
“We’ve got a lot to work with to make sure our defense is strong,” said head coach Kelley Frassinelli.
The weather was miserable for the duration of play. But Frassinelli said that the weather had no effect on the final result.
“The weather‘s the same for both teams. It’s just a matter of stepping out and playing the game,” said Frassinelli.
The Owls were outshot 27 to 22, including 19 to 13 in the first half, while playing without starting goalkeeper Nora Daly, who is recovering from an illness.
“We had a little downfall because our goalie was out,” said senior defenseman Felicia Zalik. “But we still picked up the slack for it.”
Frassinelli said that losing their starting goalkeeper was tough, but she said she was proud of the effort of sophomore defenseman Hunter Prindle-Nelson for stepping in at goal.
“We have a field player stepping in right now. (Her) not having the experience of how to play the ball and knowing where you’re suppose to step and to release; it does have an effect on us,” said Frassinelli. “But she did make some great saves for us and did a great job with some of the things that were happening on the field.”
The Owls took an early lead just 10 seconds into the game when sophomore attackman Sarah Muise scored the first goal of the season. Muise finished with a strong performance despite the losing effort, leading the team with two assist added on to her goal. However, Frassinelli said she points to the turnovers committed by her team as a main catalyst for the loss.
“The turnovers that happened in the midfield for us is something we just got to correct,” said Frassinelli.
The Owls committed 18 turnovers during the contest, including 10 in the first half. After the early goal by Muise, the Owls stormed out to a 3-1 lead. But the Spartans would come back to take a commanding 13-5 lead at halftime. Zalik said that it was the little things that lead to the game slipping away.
“Just little mistakes we had on offense. We just need to pick it up a little bit,” said Zalik.
A bright spot for the Owls came in the form of junior Sarah Cebry, who finished the game with a hat trick, leading the Owls with three goals.
Senior captains Jess Shaw and Katie Walter finished with two goals and one goal and an assist, respectively.
Frassinelli said there is still improvement on the offensive end.
“On the offensive end of it we fell apart a little bit towards the end,” said Frassinelli. “We didn’t execute the little things like we were suppose to.”
The Spartans were led by sophomores Genevieve Stickney and Alexis Serras, both finished the with six goals each.
Junior Margaret Sharp also finished with a hat trick. The Spartans improved to 6-0 on the season.
The Owls fall to 0-1 on the season. Their next game is Saturday, Mar. 16 against Southern New Hampshire University at home.
