March 17, 2007

Boxscore

LAURINBURG, N.C.—Belmont Abbey College out scored St. Andrews Presbyterian 7-4 in the last 23 minutes to break a second half tie and win the Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference women’s lacrosse contest 15-12 on Saturday afternoon.

Freshman Brianna Dignan (Nashua, N.H.) led the Crusaders, who improved to 5-4 overall and 4-2 in the CVAC, with a game-high six goals. The Knights fell to 3-8 overall and 0-5 in the league.

Freshman Kerrie Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) led St. Andrews offensively with five goals while sophomore goalkeeper Eryn McCaffrey (Cicero, N.Y.) kept the Knights in the game with 20 saves.

Dignan scored the first two goals of the match before sophomore Kelsey Binggeli (Newark, N.Y.) put SAPC on the board in the 11th minute. The Abbey extended their lead to 5-1 with three more goals but the Knights cut the deficit to two, 6-4, by netting three of the next four scores. BAC scored two late free position goals to double its lead, 8-4, at halftime.

St. Andrews stormed back to start the second half with four consecutive goals. Brown logged the first two goals out of the intermission while senior Corey Whitbeck (Newark, N.Y.) followed with a goal. Binggeli concluded the comeback by ripping a shot past the Abbey goalie to tie everything at 8-8 with 22:52 remaining.

Freshman Laurie Jordan (Davidsonville, Md.) ended the Knights rally with a goal just 45 seconds after Binggeli’s tying score. The Crusaders added two more to pull out to an 11-8 advantage. Knights’ sophomore Katie Wright (Waterloo, N.C.) then scored on a loss rebound after a save by Belmont Abbey sophomore backstop Kate Gavin (Pasadena, Md.).

The Abbey lead grew to four, 13-9, after a pair of goals but SAPC answered back with three of the next four scores. Binggeli’s third goal of the day with 6:24 left got the Knights to within two, 14-12, but good ball movement and a late goal as the clock ticked away lifted the Crusaders to the three-goal victory.

Whitbeck totaled two goals for the Knights and sophomore Farran Sanders (Hickory, N.C.) chipped in with a goal and an assist. McCaffrey made 20 saves on 41 BAC shots.

Freshman Tara Chmil (Lake Mary, Fla.) and Jordan each had a hat trick for the visitors. Chmil finished with five points after adding two helpers. Gavin made eight stops in between the posts to earn the win.

St. Andrews will host CVAC rival Lees-McRae College on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.