Wilkes-Barre, P.A. – The SUNY Poly women's lacrosse team mounted a strong second-half comeback effort, but ultimately fell just short in a tightly contested road battle against the Wilkes University Colonels, dropping an 11–9 decision on Wednesday afternoon. With the result, the Wildcats move to 0-5 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Wilkes struck early pressure in the opening quarter, but it was SUNY Poly that broke through first. After several defensive stands and a key save from goalkeeper Rebecca Thomas, Katelynn Truax opened the scoring at the 10:58 mark. The Wildcats doubled their lead minutes later when Lilly Hargarther finished a feed from Rylie Fischer to make it 2–0.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Wilkes struck early pressure in the opening quarter, but it was SUNY Poly that broke through first. After several defensive stands and a key save from goalkeeper Rebecca Thomas, Katelynn Truax opened the scoring at the 10:58 mark. The Wildcats doubled their lead minutes later when Lilly Hargarther finished a feed from Rylie Fischer to make it 2–0.
Wilkes responded with momentum midway through the quarter, rattling off four consecutive goals, including tallies from Taylor Sparks, Madyson Martinez, Morgan Hettesheimer, and Alexis Guttilla, to take a 4–2 lead. SUNY Poly answered during a man-up opportunity as Brinley Ronan converted off a pass from Madyn LaFleur, cutting the deficit to one. However, Wilkes added a late goal in the final minute to carry a 5–3 advantage into the second quarter.
In the second period, Wilkes extended its lead early with a man-up goal from Guttilla following a yellow card assessed to SUNY Poly. The Wildcats generated several chances, including shots from Alexa Ulanday and Ronan, but Wilkes goalkeeper Davyn Bonvie made key saves to hold the margin. SUNY Poly found a breakthrough at the 5:56 mark when Truax scored her second goal of the game, trimming the deficit to 6–4. Despite strong defensive efforts and multiple saves from Thomas late in the half, the Wildcats were unable to close the gap further heading into halftime.
Wilkes came out strong in the third quarter, scoring twice in the opening minutes to build an 8–4 lead. SUNY Poly continued to battle defensively, with caused turnovers from Rylie Fischer and Michalyn Fagan helping to slow the attack. The Wildcats began to chip away midway through the period as Madyn LaFleur found the back of the net, and later Lindsay Ellis converted off an assist from Truax to cut the deficit to 8–6 heading into the final quarter.
SUNY Poly's comeback effort came alive in the fourth. LaFleur scored early off an assist from Andi Walters to make it a one-goal game, then added two more goals in quick succession to cap a four-goal run and give the Wildcats their first lead since the opening quarter at 9–8.
Wilkes responded under pressure, tying the game on a goal from Sparks before regaining the lead on back-to-back scores from Nina-Lily Veale and Hettesheimer. Despite late chances from LaFleur and Truax, Bonvie and the Wilkes defense held firm down the stretch. Thomas continued to make key saves in the closing minutes, but the Wildcats were unable to find the equalizer as Wilkes secured the 11–9 victory.
