Indianapolis, IN – In a battle of top-ten ranked teams, the third-ranked UC women's lacrosse team couldn't overcome an early deficit as they fell to seventh-ranked Marian 16-10 Saturday afternoon. With the win the Knights improve to 9-2 overall and 3-1 in the MSC, while the Patriots move to 11-3 and 2-1 in conference play.
Marian took advantage of a Patriot turnover as Kori Garland netted an unassisted goal less than a minute into the game. Cumberlands responded as
Emily Heim forced a Knights turnover and on the ensuing possession
Bella Ricchiazzi found
Jaclyn Berry for a goal to tie the game 1-1 with 25:56 remaining. Marian scored seven of the next eight goals to take an 8-2 lead midway through the first half. UC started to rally as
Kelsey Fearing connected with Berry to cut the deficit to 8-4. A minute later Berry found Ricchiazzi cutting towards the cage for a goal to bring the Patriots within four at 8-4 with 10:54 remaining. Both defense increased their pressure at neither team was able to score during the final ten minutes keeping the score 8-4 at halftime.
Marian came out in the second half and tallied six unanswered goals to extend their lead to 14-4 with 14:43 remaining. Heim scooped the ensuing draw control and Ricchiazzi netted two straight goals to cut the deficit to 14-6. Marian added two more goals, before the Patriots notched the final four goals of the game for the 16-10 final.
Berry led the way with seven goals and an assists, while Ricchiazzi tallied three goals and dished out four assists.
Briana Kucis and
Amanda Phillips recorded five ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. For Kucis that put her over 100 ground balls for her career, making her the third Patriot to reach that feat. Heim scooped five draw controls in the game.
The Patriots return to the field Friday, April 12, when they host fourth-ranked Keiser in a Mid-South Conference game. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. with live video available
here, while live stats are available
here.
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