Lacrosse Falls Short, Topped by Robert Morris 15-14

Freshman Betsy Vendel scored four goals and recorded three assists, but Central Connecticut State University fell one goal short of Robert Morris in a 15-14 home loss on Sunday. The Blue Devils were unable to capitalize on an 11-8 second half lead and fall to 5-9 on the season and 1-8 in Northeast Conference play. The Colonials improve to 7-8 overall and 5-4 in the NEC. CCSU will finish out the regular season with a non-conference road contest against Holy Cross on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.

Robert Morris got out to an early lead, scoring the first two goals of the game and extending its lead to 5-1 with 12:38 to play in the opening half. The Colonials' Alana Beck scored two of her seven goals on the day during the stretch.

CCSU stopped the bleeding at the 10:35 mark when sophomore Ashley Mara connected on a free position attempt, but it was the four straight goals to end the frame that got Central back into the game. In the final 6:26 of the first half the Blue Devils scored four goals, including one by junior Michele Conway with one second left on the clock. Freshman Mackenzy Ryan started the run with two straight goals, while Vendel and Conway finished it to make it 7-7 at the break.

After Beck finished her third score of the game just 24 seconds into the second period, CCSU scored another four goals in a row to take an 11-8 lead with 19:17 to play in the game. It was freshman Meaghan McCurry starting the rally this time, tallying two straight scores to start the run. Junior Jessica Roberts then made a long run out of the back to score before Vendel finished off the stretch with a free position goal.

Robert Morris made its run starting at the 10:53 mark. The Colonials scored three straight goals, including two from Beck, to take their first lead since 8-7. Colleen O'Donnell's unassisted goal with 8:51 to play in the game gave RMU a 13-12 lead. Each team scored twice the rest of the way out and Robert Morris held on for the 15-14 victory.

The Colonials took advantage of 21 turnovers by CCSU and an 18-12 draw advantage, while Central Connecticut failed to capitalize on the fact that Robert Morris was only one for three on free position attempts.

Vendel's four goals and three assists give her 55 points on the season. She passed former Blue Devil Tracey Uellendahl for second place in CCSU history for single-season points. Uellendahl recorded 54 in 2002 and also holds the number one spot on the list with 62 points in 2003.

Conway added two goals, three assists and a team high four draw controls in the defeat. McCurry finished with three goals, while Ryan and Mara each tallied two. Mooney added to her career-best assist season with two helpers in her last regular season home game as a Blue Devil. She now has 10 on the year. Sophomore Erin DeLancey came up with big save after big save to keep CCSU in the game on Sunday. The goalkeeper finished with 15 saves for the Blue Devils.