Box Score Lakewood, N.J. – (4/29/2018) – #3 Chestnut Hill College took a 3-0 lead after the opening draw of this afternoon's Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women's Lacrosse Championship, but #1 Georgian Court University recovered for a 10-6 halftime advantage, before doubling the Griffins production in the closing 30 minutes, 22-12. The Scarlet and Gold were led by all-tournament performances from senior attack
Julia Galantich (Clinton Corners, N.Y.), senior midfielder
Hunter Leckonby (Charleston, S.C.), and junior midfielder
Julia Reinert (Bridgeport, Pa.). Galantich totaled a team-high eight points (5 goals, 3 assists) in the final.
2018 CACC Women's Lacrosse Championship Photo Gallery
Galantich netted the title affair's first goal with a success free position shot at 27:20, 1-0. Chestnut Hill College (12-7) used the tally as a springboard to capture an early 3-0. Unfortunately, Georgian Court University (13-6) responded with a five-goal run of their own to control a 5-3 (15:22) edge midway through the first half. An unassisted score from senior midfielder
Erica McLaughlin (Magnolia, N.J.) stopped the Lion run, 5-4 (10:58), but only momentarily as they home side separated for a six-goal, 10-4 (2:20), advantage before Reinert (10-5, 1:30) and Galantich (10-6, 0:26) scored free position goals in the final two minutes of the period.
Reinert's second goal was the first of the second half (10-7, 29:35), giving the Griffins hope of closing the first half's four-goal gap. But it was followed by eight unanswered Lion goals that propelled the home side to a daunting 18-7 (19:57) advantage. With their back against the wall, Chestnut Hill College issued their final rally. A connection between sophomore attack
Haley Norwillo (Duryea, Pa.) and Leckonby (18-8, 16:24) began the comeback initiative, which included succeeding goals from sophomore midfielder
Spencer Fitzgerald (Huntingtown, Md.) (18-9, 11:59) and Galantich (10:39, 6:57) and reduced the deficit to seven scores, 18-11 (6:57). Alas, that was as close as the Griffins would get with the Lions outscoring them 4-1 over the remaining clock.
Junior attack Samantha Fernandez (Toms River, N.J.) led the Lions with nine points (8 goals, 1 assist), three ground balls, and five caused turnovers. Five other recorded multiple points for Georgian Court University, who also dominated the draw with 14 controls from freshman midfielder Madison Heck (Forked River, N.J.). In goal, junior Amber Neumann (Brick, N.J.) (13-6) totaled 10 saves and recovered a ground ball.
Galantich added two ground balls and a caused turnover to her eight-point performance. Rienert and Leckonby finished with two goals apiece; the former also recorded two ground balls, four draws, and a caused turnover, while the latter additional provided an assist, two ground balls, and three draws. Besides the scores from McLaughlin and Fitzgerald, the remaining Scarlet and Gold tally was supplied by junior attack
Rita Lynn Trainer (Conshohocken, Pa.) (2-0, 26:06). Junior
Kayla Czernik (Aston, Pa.), senior
Gillian Wixted (Bensalem, Pa.), and sophomore
Mary Kroppe (Wyomissing, Pa.) headlined the Griffins' defensive effort in front of junior goalkeeper
Valeria Amaya (Oakland, Calif.) with two caused turnovers apiece. Amaya (9-6) totaled 15 saves and four ground balls in the loss.
The Chestnut Hill College women's lacrosse team finishes the 2018 season at 12-7 overall and 7-2 in league play.
