Bucknell University
Monmouth
Women's Lax Drops Wild Affair to Monmouth, 17-16
3/9/2016 7:08:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- A wild comeback ended in heartbreak for the Bucknell women's lacrosse team on a beautiful, 75-degree day at Graham Field on Wednesday. Down by six goals to Monmouth with 13:49 to play, the Bison stormed back to tie the game, only to see the Hawks win it 17-16 on a Michelle Gonzales goal with 2:29 remaining.
Despite a slow start, it was another big offensive showing for a Bucknell (3-2) squad that came into the contest ranked second nationally in scoring at 15.8 goals per game. Eve Lukowski, the nation's third-leading scorer, had four goals and an assist, including the tying tally with 3:08 remaining. She had three goals in that 6-0 run that drew the Bison even after they had trailed by as many as seven in the first half.
Emily Becker had a monster game for Bucknell with four goals, seven draw controls and three ground balls. Maddy Molinari added three goals, two assists, five draw controls and four ground balls. Ally Furbay tallied three goals and an assist, and Christina Manis logged a goal and a career-high five assists.
Annie Gilbertson led the Bison defense with four caused turnovers and four ground balls.
Monmouth (4-3) also had plenty of high scorers, led by Alexa Smith with five goals and two assists and Marial Pierce with two goals, six assists and seven draw controls. Caroline Corbliss added three goals and one assist, and Gonzales had two goals and two assists.
It was all Hawks in the first 20 minutes of the contest. Monmouth scored the game's first four goals before Becker got the Bison on the board at the 23:55 mark. Bucknell closed within 5-3 before Monmouth scored five straight to go up 10-3.
Monmouth goalie Caroline Huelster played a big role in Monmouth generating that big early lead. The Bison had plenty of good looks, but Huelster made nine saves in the first half alone and finished with 14. She held Bucknell to 3-for-12 shooting on free-position attempts.
Bucknell did score three times in the final 5:36 of the first half and trailed 12-6 at intermission, and perhaps finally solving Huelster in that stretch paved the way for its 10-goal second half.
Furbay and Lukowski opened the second-half scoring. The Bison closed within four on a couple of occasions, but Monmouth stretched the margin back to six at 16-10 with a 3-1 run midway through the half.
But then Bucknell started to take over at the draw circle when Molinari was inserted in the middle, and four goals in a spain of just 3:03 got the Bison right back in the game. After Monmouth went up by six, Furbay scored 19 seconds later off a feed from Manis after a Molinari draw control.
Lukowski then scored twice in a row, and on the latter goal she absorbed a high hit that resulted in a Monmouth yellow card and a free re-start at midfield. Just 15 seconds later, Manis fed Sam Rickels for a shot into an empty net after Huelster came up empty trying to jump out and intercept a pass.
Bucknell won the ensuing draw, but this time Huelster did come away with an interception to win possession back for the Hawks. They drained nearly six minutes off the clock before an errant pass gave the ball back to the Bison. This time they converted, as Rickels slipped a pass from up top into Molinari for a close-range shot, pulling Bucknell within 16-15 with 4:28 to go.
Molinari got another draw control, and then with 3:08 to play Richter lobbed a pass from the left side to Lukowski on the crease, and the sophomore-to-sophomore combo tied the game at 16.
Bucknell was called for a foul on the draw, and Monmouth wasted little time getting the lead back. Higson picked out a cutting Gonzales for the score with 2:29 to play.
Richter collected the ensuing draw but was quickly swarmed and threw an errant pass. Monmouth played keep-away for the final two minutes and was able to run out the clock.
Bucknell finished with a 39-27 edge in shots and a 17-11 advantage in ground balls. The contest was slowed by 62 foul calls, 31 on each team.
The Bison return to action on Saturday at Saint Francis (Pa.) at 3 p.m.
