Sports

Ranked Bullets puncture women's lacrosse defense

Ranked-bullets-puncture-womens-lacrosse-defense

Jake Mrozewski | Phoenix Staff

Emily Evans slices through the Gettysburg defense on Saturday. Evans’ tally against the Bullets was her 18th of the season, second behind classmate Amy Vachal (22).

BY ANDREW GREENBLATT

In print | March 26, 2009

The Swarthmore women’s lacrosse team fell to #6 Gettysburg on Saturday at Clothier field by a score of 18-6.

The margin of defeat says less about the Garnet’s deficiencies than it does about Gettysburg’s strengths. Gettysburg is perennially among the Garnet’s toughest matchups of the season. The loss, which an amateur fan may dismiss as a non-descript blowout, holds promise for this team’s future.
The Gettysburg matchup could be indicative of the season to come, but not because of the score. “Gettysburg had control of the game from start to finish the past five or six times we’ve played them,” said Garnet head coach Karen Borbee. “We haven’t made Gettysburg compete with us and this time we did.”

On Saturday, Gettysburg jumped out to a quick 2-0 start, a familiar and ominous beginning. But around midway through the first half, at the 22 minute mark, Amy Vachal ’11 put in her 21st goal of the season to make the score 2-1, prompting Gettysburg head coach Carol Cantele to promptly call a timeout. “[The immediacy of the timeout] was a great feeling because we knew at that point they were competing with us,” Borbee said. “On the whole, we made them work the entire game.”

Despite the 18 goals allowed this past weekend, Swarthmore will continue to rely on a combination of an experienced defensive line supported by a young offensive front. The team’s seven seniors, who have “all been playing for four years, established right from the start a great work ethic,” noted Borbee.

She continued to praise the experienced seven, characterizing them by a shared philosophy. Borbee went on to note that the seniors share “the idea that you’re only going to get out of it what you put in,” Borbee said.

One of those seniors, co-captain Melissa Grigsby ’09, ranks third in the conference with 3.2 ground balls per game and third in caused turnovers with 2.0 per game. She and fellow co-captain Kelsey Hatzell ’09 anchor a defense that had kept all teams at bay before facing the powerful Bullets. Swarthmore ranks second in the conference in ground balls per game, a key hustle statistic which indicates the presence of a proficient offense.

The defense’s efforts to keep the ball alive have allowed for the Garnet offense to also yield impressive results thus far. Co-captain Marissa Schaffer ’09 leads the team of young attackers and midfielders. Vachal and Emily Evans ’11 rank in the top ten in the conference in goals per game, and as a team, the Garnet rank first in shots on goal per game, averaging 27.67.

That being said, the team is aware of its potential this season and is trying to put the pieces together after a “productive” loss. “We had a good first half and a not-so-good second half,” Evans said. “We need to learn how to play consistently well.”

But overall, this group seems like they’re having a blast. “It’s kind of silly and focused at the same time. We’re all friends and we like to goof around a lot,” Evans said.

Coach Borbee continued: “I’m really enjoying this group. They’re having a really good time together. I would definitely credit the seniors for that.” Borbee also realizes that there is still work to be done if the Garnet expects to make the playoffs. “That’s the bottom line, “ she said. “We have to have a winning record in the conference. We’ve got to win five [conference] games.”

The path to these five wins continues Saturday, with a matchup against McDaniel that has carried crucial consequences in recent years. Before a 19-7 loss last season, the Garnet had beaten McDaniel on the road in 2006 by a slim 16-15 margin, a pivotal game that pushed the Garnet into the postseason while forcing McDaniel to watch from home.

In 2007, the Green Terror avenged their ’06 loss by handing the Garnet a one-goal defeat at Clothier Field by a score of 9-8, forcing them out of the playoffs.

With a 0-1 conference record and a tough Centennial schedule including remaining games against two nationally ranked teams (#3 Franklin & Marshall and #20 Dickinson) the McDaniel game is essentially a must-win.

Come see the Garnet this Saturday at 12 p.m. in a matchup against the Green Terror that will undoubtedly prove to be a key game in determining the squad’s Centennial Conference playoff fate.