Liberty Slips on the Road, Saturday
3/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
The Liberty Lady Flames lacrosse squad dropped its second consecutive contest on Saturday, this time against the Elon Phoenix in Elon, N.C., by a score of 13-8. After the decision, Liberty falls to 2-8 on the season while Elon improves to 7-3.
The Phoenix took the early 2-0 lead after Nicole Sinacori netted her 13th goal of the season and Stephanie Asher collected her 29th with 26:58 left in the opening frame.
The Lady Flames received their first goal of the contest from freshman Katy Pridemore. The standout freshman notched her 25th goal of the season after Kallie Britton found her racing towards the net with 23:28 left in the first half.
Elon answered when Sloane Kessler corralled the loose ball to connect on her 14th goal of the season.
The Lady Flames caught fire, netting three unanswered goals to take a 4-3 lead with 15:29 left in the opening stanza. Senior attacker, Sam Struss began the spurt with her 19th goal of the season. Co-captain and redshirt senior Nina Dunay spotted Struss streaking towards the net. One senior to another, Struss buried the ball into the back of the net to pull to within one.
The Liberty equalizer came from the stick of Paige Britton. The redshirt freshman connected on her third goal of the season with 17:55 left in the half. Struss aided in the Virginia native's goal, Struss' team-high 10th assist.
The Lady Flames took their first lead of the contest when Michaela Rich netted her 11th goal of the season. Co-captain Morgan Becker picked up her seventh assist as the Virginia native dumped the ball off to Rich who connected for the 4-3 lead.
The Phoenix rose to counter Liberty's 3-0 run with a three-goal spurt of its own in a span of two minutes. Two of the three Elon goals were scored by Kelsey Dupere, with the third goal coming from Asher, the freshman's 30th of the season.
With 8:48 remaining in the opening stanza, the Lady Flames pulled back to within one, 6-5. Dunay reached the double-digit goal plateau on the season, collecting her 10th goal on the campaign. Dunay's goal was set up by Struss, her 11th assist this year.
The two squads traded one goal apiece over the final five minutes of the half. Asher notched her third goal of the contest and 31st of the season with 5:22 left before intermission.
The final goal of the opening frame came from Becker, connecting on her 13th goal of the season. Once again, Struss set up the Liberty strike, as the senior collected her 12th assist on the year. Becker's goal came with 23 ticks left on the clock to pull the Lady Flames to within one, 7-6, before intermission.
Kallie Britton netted the Liberty equalizer with 28:12 remaining in the second half. Britton capitalized on the free position attempt, burying her ninth goal of the season to knot the contest at 7-7.
After surrendering the lead, Elon netted six unanswered goals over the next 20 minutes to regain the 13-7 lead with 7:23 left to play in the contest. Asher netted two of the Phoenix's goals, for her fourth and fifth goals of the contest.
With the Lady Flames trailing 13-7, Rich connected on her second goal of the contest and her 12th of the season. Much like her first goal during the competition, Rich's goal was assisted by Becker, her eighth assist this season. Rich's goal marked the final goal of the contest as the Lady Flames slipped, 13-8.
Liberty returns to action Saturday when the Lady Flames welcome the Campbell Camels to Lynchburg, Va. for Liberty's Big South opener. The contest is slated to begin at 1 p.m. at the Liberty Lacrosse Field.
