Lancers Let Loose on Flash, 19-2
Arlington, Va. – In Saint Francis’ and Longwood University’s third attempt to commence play from their original listing of February 17, the Lancers fluid ball movement resulted in a 19-2 victory over the Red Flash on Sunday afternoon at St. Michael’s/St. Agnes high school.
LU dialed in 18 unanswered goals before junior midfielder Meghan Crosby (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) tallied the final two of three goals amid the two squads as the Red Flash’s lone goal producer.
The Lancers’ offense maintained possession of the ball the majority of the game, upholding a spread out, yet fleeting offense to control the tempo of Sunday’s matinee. The numerous areas that assisted in the supremacy over SFU were outcollecting Saint Francis in ground balls (25-7), claiming more draw controls (15-8), firing 32 more shots than the Flash (38-6) and committing less turnovers (20-8).
Saint Francis faced a 12-0 deficit before heading back onto the pitch for the second half of play. The Red Flash were faced with a suffocating barrage of six more Lancer markers before Crosby took advantage of SFU’s one and only free position shot around the four minute mark and threw one at the goaltenders feet, bouncing it off the turf to touch the top left shelf of the cage. LU’s Liz Sellmeyer put her fourth goal away following Crosby’s score, but with 29 second left, Crosby picked up some loose garbage in front of the cage and pushed it through for SFU’s final tally, finalizing the score at 19-2 in favor of Longwood.
Tacked onto Crosby’s two goals were three precise shots and five draw controls. Crosby now leads the team in goals with five. Freshman Meg Lamarche (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) put two of three rips on cage and came away with one draw. Junior Sarah Wheeler (Canton, Conn./Canton) registered one draw control and one ground ball.
Junior captain Corri Smeak (Frederick, Md./St. John’s) and freshman Heather Tiernan (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) each collected two ground balls. Smeak also fixed a draw to her credit.
Freshman netminder Danielle Pokusa (Cinnaminson, N.J./Cinnaminson) stopped 14 Lancer bullets on 33 shots on cage for a phenomenal .424 save percentage. SFU’s keeper also scooped two ground balls and caused one turnover. Junior goalie Katie Godshall (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion) saw some time in the final minutes and also forced Longwood to cough up a loose ball.
LU’s Liz Sellmeyer was the leading scorer with four as well as dishing out two helpers.
Saint Francis returns to Loretto to host the Niagara University Purple Eagles in their first home competition of the 2008 season. The Red Flash originally had their home opener scheduled for March 9 against Niagara, but the game was postponed due to rough conditions. The St. Patrick’s Day battle will commence at 3:00pm on DeGol Field in Loretto, Pa.