Crusaders Take Game to Final Minutes; Fall in Championship Game

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. – It took nearly the entire 60 minutes of play to determine a winner, and unfortunately for the Susquehanna women’s lacrosse team, time ran out in its Landmark Conference championship hopes as SU fell to Catholic 12-10.

Neither team held more than a three-goal lead at any point in the game and the score was tied 10-10 with just 4:11 to play before the Cardinals scored the final two goals of the game to win the championship, their fifth-straight.

All-League recipient Emma Ehler (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) led all players with six goals and also added an assist. Fellow All-Landmark honoree Brynn Reid (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) netted two goals for the Crusaders (15-2).

Goalie Emily Stankaitis (Honeoye Falls, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima) played all 60 minutes and racked up 16 saves.

Catholic (14-5) had 37 shots to SU’s 25 and finished with 33 ground balls to the Crusaders’ 17. In addition, Susquehanna (15-2) was able to win just nine of 24 draw controls in the game.

Ehler and Ally Bauer (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) started off the game with back-to-back goals for Susquehanna and a Reid score at the 20:56 mark kept SU ahead by two (3-1). Another score from Reid made it a 4-1 game with 16:14 on the clock.

Catholic was able to end the half on a 3-0 run, though, to make it a 4-4 contest at the midway point.

The Crusaders netted the first goal of the second half before Catholic went on another 3-0 run that made it a 7-5 game with 24:32 still to play.

Ehler was able to cut it to 7-6 four minutes later and she proceeded to knot it at eight-all with 10:52 remaining.

From there, the teams proceeded to trade goals until the Cardinals were able to net the final two goals of the game, including an insurance goal with six seconds left, to clinch the championship title.

The Crusaders finish the season with a 15-2 overall record, the best in program history, and this past week saw five players earn All-League status. In addition, head coach Laura Moan and assistant Katie Zichelli were named the Coaching Staff of the Year.

NCAA Tournament bids will be announced on Sunday afternoon.