Tigers Come Up Just Short At Roanoke

Playing their second game in less than 18 hours, the Wittenberg women's lacrosse team nearly pulled off its second upset victory in as many days, falling to Roanoke 11-10.

March 18, 2012
Box Score

SALEM, Va. — Playing their second game in less than 18 hours, the Wittenberg women's lacrosse team nearly pulled off its second upset victory in as many days, falling to Roanoke 11-10.

The loss dropped the Tigers to 2-3 on the season after a whirlwind opening two weeks that included five games in three different states. Roanoke leveled its record at 3-3 after pulling off the comeback that Lynchburg was unable to execute a night earlier in a 10-8 loss to Wittenberg.

In the win over Lynchburg, the Tigers weathered a rally in the closing minutes as a three-goal lead shrank to one before Francine Murzynski (Mentor, Ohio/Lake Catholic) put the game out of reach with a goal just inside the three-minute mark. Fast forward a day, and the Tigers again held a three-goal, second-half lead against an Old Dominion Athletic Conference powerhouse program.

Roanoke actually trailed by three at halftime and four in the opening minute of the second half as the Tigers picked up a goal from senior Jennifer Close (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest). The Maroons wiped out the deficit over the course of 10 minutes, but Wittenberg again moved in front on goals from sophomore Alie Marousek (Pittsburgh, Pa./Portsmouth (NH)) and Close.

That ended the scoring, however, as Roanoke reeled off the last three tallies of the game over the final 14 minutes, capped by a free-position shot with 5:01 left. Junior goalkeeper Katie Bondy (Westerville, Ohio/South) made two of her 12 saves in the final five minutes to give her team a chance, but the Tigers were unable to squeeze off a shot before the horn sounded.

Close finished with two goals and two assists, while Marousek added three goals and one assist to lead the Tiger offense. Junior Kellen Morrissey (Aurora, Colo./Smoky Hill) added one goal, four ground balls and two draw controls in another fine all-around performance, while Murczynski was credited with two goals, two ground balls, three caused turnovers and five draw controls. She led the team in each of the latter two categories.