Women's Lacrosse

March 21, 2006

Women's Lacrosse Opens NE-10 Play With 12-11 Loss


COLCHESTER, Vt. Merrimack College rallied from a four-goal deficit to defeat Saint Michael's College, 12-11, in Northeast-10 Conference women's lacrosse action on Tuesday. The contest marked the first lacrosse game played on the College's brand-new Christopher Duffy Artificial Turf Field at Doc Jacobs Complex.

For Merrimack (2-1, 1-0 NE-10), sophomore Allison Kownacki (Orange, Conn.) led the way with four goals, all in the second half, including the goal that gave the Warriors the lead for good at 11-10 with 6:21 remaining. Senior Alison Colarusso (North Andover, Mass.) and freshman Kathleen Esposito (Simsbury, Conn.) added three goals apiece, while sophomore Amanda Simeone (Nashua, N.H.) chipped in with two goals and an assist. Freshman Gina Sansone (Norwood, Mass.) stopped 13 shots, including nine in the second half, to earn the win.

For Saint Michael's (2-2, 0-1 NE-10), junior Megan Rule (Bow, N.H./Bow) led a balanced scoring attack with two goals and two assists. Senior Kristen Palazzo (Armonk, N.Y./Byram Hills), sophomores Brynne Curran (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) and Amanda Soule (Hartland, Vt./Woodstock Union), and freshman Lauren Rizzotti (Cohasset, Mass./Cohasset) added two goals apiece for the Purple Knights, while sophomore Courtney Wakem (Tiverton, R.I./Tiverton) turned aside seven shots in the loss.

The Purple Knights opened up a 5-1 lead 11 minutes into the contest, with Rule and Rizzotti each scoring twice. Colarusso tallied a pair of unassisted goals 32 seconds apart to cut Merrimack's deficit in half, and the Warriors trailed at halftime, 8-5.

Saint Michael's still led by three, 9-6, with less than 20 minutes left in regulation, but the Warriors scored three unanswered goals just 36 seconds apart, including two by Kownacki, to tie the game at nine-all with 19 minutes to go. Curran's second goal five minutes later gave the Purple Knights the lead for the final time, but Espositio's third goal of the game with 7:27 left tied the game at 10-all, and Kownacki's fourth goal of the half proved to be too much for the Purple Knights to overcome.

Saint Michael's returns to action on Saturday, as the Purple Knights host league-rival Assumption College at 1 p.m. at Duffy Field. Merrimack hosts Bentley College on Thursday at 7 p.m.