(04-24-08)
Box Score
WEST HAVEN, Conn. -- Brigid Brady (photo) scored a game-high six goals and the No. 9 University of New Haven women's lacrosse team survived a late flurry that saw Bentley College score the game's final nine goals on Thursday afternoon at Kayo Field. UNH prevailed in the non-conference matchup on Charger Senior Day, 16-15.
UNH (14-2) outscored their future Northeast-10 Conference opponent by a 12-3 margin in the first half, and the Chargers increased their lead to 16-6 with just 18:29 remaining in the game to force a running clock.
But Bentley (6-9) never gave in, and reeled off nine goals in a row to close out the game and put Charger fans on edge. Their flurry included a pair of three-goal outbursts that each took just over a minute off the clock, but the Falcons ran out of time as the ninth-ranked Chargers were able to kill the clock at the end of the game.
Brady led all players with six goals, while Brianna Kenworthy had three and Kristine Lambracht added two goals and two assists. Goalkeeper Shannon Greenwood made 11 saves, including eight in the second period.
Bentley's Jaclyn Griffin had five goals and one assist, while Alyssa Ritchie had five points (2g, 3a). Leigh Tedeschi scored three times, and goalie Christina Guglielmo made 10 saves.
Kim Morris scored off a pass from Liz Goddard to start Bentley's 9-0 run with 15:39 left in the game. Jaclyn Griffin then sandwiched a pair of goals around an Alyssa Ritchie tally, all in the span of 1:15, to bring the Falcons to within 16-10.
Just under three minutes later, Griffin hit Becca Woods with a pass in front to make it 16-11, and Liz Goddard took a feed from Ritchie exactly 35 seconds later to make it 16-12. Ritchie took the ball down the field and scored a goal of her own just 30 seconds later to put the score at 16-13.
Griffin then converted an 8-meter opportunity to make it 16-14 with under eight minutes left. After a brief drought by both teams, which featured two saves by UNH's Greenwood and three by Bentley's Guglielmo, it was Leigh Tedeschi pulling the Falcons to within a goal of tying with 2:52 remaining.
But UNH was able to hold off the Bentley attack in the closing moments. Mallory Ferrandiz caused a turnover by Griffin and got the ball into the offensive zone, where the Chargers held on to the ball to run out the clock.
UNH looked in control in the first half despite going down 2-1 just 1:10 into the game. They poured in six consecutive scores from that point on, including three by Brady, to lead 7-2. The Chargers increased their margin to 12-3 at the half by reeling off five tallies in a row to close the period, including a pair by Ashley Ferrandiz.
This was the final match at Kayo Field for UNH seniors Erin Metcalf and Heather Miles, who scored one goal in Thursday's game and will end her career ranked fifth all-time in scoring at UNH.
UNH closes out its regular season slate on Saturday at East Coast Conference opponent Philadelphia University, beginning at noon.
