By: Aiden Locke
BROCKPORT, N.Y. - The Brockport Golden Eagles women's lacrosse team picked up their first win of the season, beating RIT 13-11 after a five-goal third quarter. Brockport's victory should serve as a big momentum booster as they begin Empire 8 play this weekend. Senior midfielder Alayna Foos led the way for Brockport, scoring four goals in the win and is tied for sixth in program scoring history for total goals scored (141).
"I was really impressed with how the (offensive) unit was able to say composed," Brockport head coach Bryana Glasser said. "Foos running our offense has really gave us that calming factor that we needed."
A late second quarter goal kick started an eventual five-goal run which spanned nearly a full quarter of game time. Foos scored with 1:40 remaining in the first half to pull Brockport within one at the break with the scored sat at 6-5 at halftime. Foos late second quarter goal came off a creative move. She beat an RIT defender on a drive inside and buried a shot in the top left corner on RIT first-year goaltender Grace McDonald.
"It's been a long time coming in our game, just learning how to make those offensive adjustments and I think we did that today," Foos said. "We took what they gave us and we worked with it."
Brockport came out of the break energized and immediately got to work. Senior midfielder Paige Thowe found an open lane to cut inside, receiving a perfect pass from sophomore attacker Amanda Evans. Thowe scored her third goal of the season with a right handed flick into the top right corner to tie the game up. The goal was scored just 22 seconds into the second half.
"We came in, reset and then set the tone for how it was that we wanted to finish out this game," Glasser said.
Brockport scored three more unanswered goals in the third quarter. Sophomore attacker Tristan Davis scored two, including a free position shot goal off a step down rip into the top left corner. The final goal of the run came from Foos off a free position shot with 3:18 remaining in the third to give Brockport a 9-6 lead.
RIT senior midfielder Lily DePalma slowed the bleeding after she scored with 2:23 remaining in the third quarter. DePalma had a huge game individually, finishing with five goals to lead all goal scorers on the day.
"It feels great, we finally put things to work that we needed to, we fixed some things and we're defeinity happy to get this thing going and I hope we keep this energy going for our next game in conference," Foos said.
Brockport first-year midfielder Karaline McCarthy got the goal back with eight tenths of a second remaining the third frame. A spin dodge followed by a side arm right-handed heave found the back of the net.
RIT attempted a late push to get back into the game in the fourth quarter, outscoring Brockport 4-3. With a four goal deficit, which was the largest for either side on the day, the Tigers scored two in the final two minutes of the game. RIT sophomore midfielder Sarah Hallinan found pay dirt with two minutes remaining, followed by DePalma's fifth goal just 30 seconds later to bring the final score to 13-11.
"It feels pretty good especially because that RIT team is the best they've been in so many years," Davis said.
RIT got off to the better start, leading 4-1 with over five minutes remaining in the opening frame. Brockport found some late momentum in the first, thanks to goals from McCarthy and senior midfielder Sarah Kilburn.
The second quarter showcased the best of both sides defensively with just four combined goals compared to six or seven being scored in the first, third and fourth.
"We focused on playing together, doing the simple things and staying foundationally sound," Glasser said. "For us that's sitting low, running through and being an athlete. We had each other's backs the whole way."
Foos led the Golden Eagles with five points (four goals + one assist) with Davis adding a hat-trick, pairs from McCarthy and Kilburn and single goals from Thowe and sophomore attacker Hailey Lewkovich. Sophomore goaltender Arianna Reed stopped nine shots while surrendering 11 goals in cage for Brockport.
The Golden Eagles set a new season high 13 goals in conjunction with their best defensive effort with just 11 goals allowed.
"It's honestly relieving because we knew we should be winning throughout this whole thing and we've been taking it one day at a time throughout this whole process," Davis said.
The Golden Eagles wrap up non-conference play at 1-6 and begin Empire 8 play on Saturday, March 29 as they travel to Oneonta to take on 2-6 Hartwick College.
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