William Penn Falls Short in Season Opener
Beloit, Wis.–The Statesmen women’s lacrosse team could not come up with enough offense to claim its season opener, falling 8-5 to Beloit in non-conference action last Saturday.
WPU (0-1), which was outshot 31-16, was unable to overcome 32 turnovers.
The sides were scoreless until the middle of the first quarter when the hosts Buccaneers (1-0) finally broke through.
BC then doubled its advantaged three minutes later, but a foul on the home squad gave the Statesmen a man-up opportunity. Emily Ferguson (Sr., Waterloo, N.Y., Exercise Science) took advantage, putting away a pass from Candice Sabatino (Sr., Little Falls, N.Y., Exercise Science) with 3:15 left in the first period.
The Buccaneers then stretched the lead back to two in the opening seconds of the second quarter, but Ashlyn Hoffman (Sr. Bend, Ore., Nursing) got the navy and gold back within one on a free position goal at the 12:33 mark.
Unfortunately, Beloit ended the stanza with back-to-back goals and then started the third quarter with two more quick scores as it began to pull away with a 7-2 lead.
Hoffman, on another free position attempt, and Ferguson, off of an assist from Victoria Negron (Sr., Miami, Florida, Exercise Science), led WPU to a pair of goals late in the third. Free position shots did not go well for the Statesmen, however, as they connected on just two of five tries.
The home team began the fourth and final quarter with a goal just 72 seconds in, while Ferguson (assist from Negron) recorded her third goal to cap the scoring with 11:05 to go. Down just three, the Statesmen had plenty of time to make things interesting, but could not finish the rally.
In addition to her scoring, Ferguson also won four draw controls, while WPU held a 9-8 edge in that department.
Catrina Dinehart (Grad., Palmyra, N.Y.) was strong in front of the cage with 15 saves; she also collected a team-best six ground balls. WPU lost the ground ball battle 25-16.
The visitors were a perfect 6-for-6 in clears, while Beloit was denied twice out of its 10 attempts.
Next Up: William Penn has a lengthy break, returning to Oskaloosa on Saturday, March 9 to host Ottawa (Kan.) in non-conference action at 12 p.m
