Box Score UTICA, N.Y. - SUNYIT's Lady Wildcats (0-3, 0-0) scuffed up their paws on Saturday in their first battle on the newly-opened Wildcat Statium. The 2012 Women's Lacrosse team brought back the sunshine from their previous two matches in South Carolina as the field heated up between them and the Bard College Raptors (4-0).
This spring season is the very first for the Women's Lacrosse Team, a brand new program to SUNYIT as well as to some of the players. But a lack of experience didn't stop them from making a big statement for future face-offs.
The Lady Wildcats roared out of the gates finding the back of the net within the first minute of the game (00:37). SUNYIT's Jenna Lashua, a freshmen out of Heuvelton, NY (Heuvelton High School) had the crowd on their feet and gave the team momentum to keep up the intensity. Not long after, catching the Raptors on their heels, sophomore and captain Amanda Bohne (Clay, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse High School) scored giving the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.
Around the 7 minute mark, Bard College fired back with a goal scored by Joanna Regan (06:56) and shortly followed by Stephanie LaMont (10:36) tying up the match, but that only pushed the Wildcats harder. Shortly after, Taviot Jackowski (LaFayette, NY/LaFayette High School), junior and also a captain set SUNYIT on a scoring frenzy with her goal (13:43). Veronica Metz, a junior out of Morrisville, NY (Morrisville High School/ MVCC) tossed two more in consecutively (16:18) (24:22) to give the Wildcats a 5-2 lead.
"I'm extremely proud of this team's performance on Saturday," stated SUNYIT Head Coach Erynn Anderson. "While we did not come out of it with a win, we competed to win and held the lead for most of the first half. It was nice to score the first couple of goals of the game and successfully transition the ball as many times as we did."
The excitement reached its peak once Joanna Regan scored 3 goals within five minutes (25:06) leaving the score tied up for the half.
Bard came back out strong in the second half firing in two more passed SUNYIT keeper Aubrey Campbell (Auburn, NY/Auburn High School). However, refusing to surrender to Bard's scoring streak, midfielder Taviot Jackowski responded with her bounce shot about two minutes in(32:29). It was downhill from there for the Wildcats as Bard College continued to wrack up 7 more points.
The final goal of the game byAna Filipa Exposto (Lisbon, Portugal/American Int'l School of Mozambique) (57:58) went on to show the Wildcat's dedication and unwillingness to let up.
"We know we are a first year program," stated sophomore and captain Amanda Bohne, "but the whole team has been working hard and we feel as though we can put together a great season."
The Bard College Raptors finished with an overall 14-7 win over The SUNYIT Wildcats.
"I consider Saturday's matchup a nice accomplishment," said Coach Anderson. "Considering two months ago, these women did not know the game of lacrosse at all. They've come very far in a short amount of time because they are athletes and want to compete."
The Lady Wildcats are now 0-3 in their overall season and will move on to face Utica College on their home turf Wednesday, March 21st at 4:00 PM.
