By George Tatoris
Sports Assistant
For the past three weeks, the College’s lacrosse team weaved a trail of scorched earth through New Jersey and Pennsylvania. After beating Ramapo College, 17-1, on Tuesday, March 8, and Neumann University, 13-0, on Saturday, March 12, the Lions are 4-0 on the season.
The team’s high-scoring performance was thanks to a strong senior offense.
Senior attacker Erin Waller was the heavy-hitter in both games, scoring four goals in each.
Waller was involved with the first three goals in the game against the Ramapo Roadrunners. Just 56 seconds in, she scored the first goal of the match and a little under two minutes later, she assisted senior midfielder Megan Devlin to the goal. Waller finished off her early performance just under four minutes in when she got her second goal off an assist from senior midfielder Cortney Natalicchio.
The Lions only needed four minutes to put three goals in the net. By the end of the game, Waller had four goals and five assists.
Natalicchio and Devlin played a part in the dominant offense in Mahwah, N.J., scoring three goals apiece against Ramapo.
The veteran trio of Waller, Natalicchio and Devlin played a major part in the Lions’s offense against the Neumann University Knights.
Waller was just as aggressive, scoring four goals and an assist. Natalicchio was second in scoring with three goals and an assist and Devlin was the first Lion net to net a goal, finishing the game with a goal and an assist.
Sophomore attacker Emily Kratz was third in scoring that Saturday with two goals in the first half and one assist.
Both the Knights and the Roadrunners were kept at bay by a dominant Lions defense.
In the game against Ramapo, Sophomore defender Elizabeth Morrison had seven draw controls against their opponent and caused four turnovers, even helping out the offense with two goals in the first half, allowing the Lions to have a 12-1 lead at the break.
Morrison’s second goal — the defender’s fourth overall this season — was the last goal in the first half of the game.
Freshman goaltender Miranda Chrone made two saves and let the ball get past her once.
Four days later, in the game against Neumann, the Lions’s defense continued their strong defensive strategies.
Morrison had five ground balls, three draw controls and two turnovers. Freshman midfielder Erin Harvey was all over the field with six ground balls, an assist and the final goal of the game.
Thanks to a strong defense, Chrone was only forced to make one save in the entire game.
The Lions have won their last four games with apparent ease, beating the State University of New York at Fredonia, 29-9, Fairleigh Dickinson University, 29-3, Ramapo College, 28-3 and Neumann University, 19-1. In all four of the victories, the team outshot its opponents by at least 18 shots.
Spectators may not see that ease this Saturday, March 19, when the sixth-ranked Lions go toe-to-toe with fifth-ranked Gettysburg College at Lions’ Stadium.
With both teams undefeated, the result of Saturday’s matchup will mean one team ends the game with its first loss of the season.
