WLAX: Women down rival Hawks
Johnson nets hat trick, adds assist in victory
Matt Hallahan
Issue date: 4/1/09 Section: Sports
Sophomore Lucy Pompa and senior Brianna Gauthier were the deciding factors in Saturday's 10-9 women's lacrosse victory over conference-rival Monmouth. With the score knotted at 8, senior assist-mastermind Breana Waraksa found a streaking Pompa, who snuck a shot past Monmouth goal keeper Monica Johnson to put the Mountaineers up one with 9 minutes, 12 seconds to play. Three minutes later, Gauthier, the basketball star turned attack weapon, fired a shot that resulted in her first collegiate goal on a grass surface. Although surrendering a late goal, the Mountaineers' defense locked down in the final minute, which was just enough to extend its perfect conference record to 3-0.
Despite jumping out to a commanding 5-1 lead, the Mountaineers hit a mid-half slump and surrendered three consecutive Monmouth goals. The two teams closed the half by trading goals in the final minute, as the Mount took a 6-5 lead to the locker room.Junior attacker AJ Johnson opened the second half for the Mount with her third goal of the game to give her team a two-point cushion. Monmouth's sharp shooter Megan Brennan responded with her second of three goals, but she was quickly matched by Mount senior Katelyn Catanese, who put the Mount up 8-6 with 20:40 remaining.
In the six minutes that followed, Monmouth's Rachel Feirstein, who also scored three goals for the Hawks, teamed with Brennan to once again even the score at 8 a piece. Regardless of the Monmouth tandem's prominent scoring, freshman goalkeeper Brigid McTavish believes her team did a sufficient job of containment.
"We knew [Brennan and Feirstein] were their scorers, so I called eight [defenders] quicker to get double teams on them," explained McTavish, who was recently named NEC Defensive Player of the Week. "My talking louder made it easier to defend them because everyone knew when to crash."
After a five-minute stretch of tight defensive play from both teams, Pompa found the net for her second score of the game, putting the Mount ahead for good.
Despite jumping out to a commanding 5-1 lead, the Mountaineers hit a mid-half slump and surrendered three consecutive Monmouth goals. The two teams closed the half by trading goals in the final minute, as the Mount took a 6-5 lead to the locker room.Junior attacker AJ Johnson opened the second half for the Mount with her third goal of the game to give her team a two-point cushion. Monmouth's sharp shooter Megan Brennan responded with her second of three goals, but she was quickly matched by Mount senior Katelyn Catanese, who put the Mount up 8-6 with 20:40 remaining.
In the six minutes that followed, Monmouth's Rachel Feirstein, who also scored three goals for the Hawks, teamed with Brennan to once again even the score at 8 a piece. Regardless of the Monmouth tandem's prominent scoring, freshman goalkeeper Brigid McTavish believes her team did a sufficient job of containment.
"We knew [Brennan and Feirstein] were their scorers, so I called eight [defenders] quicker to get double teams on them," explained McTavish, who was recently named NEC Defensive Player of the Week. "My talking louder made it easier to defend them because everyone knew when to crash."
After a five-minute stretch of tight defensive play from both teams, Pompa found the net for her second score of the game, putting the Mount ahead for good.
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