St. Mary's City, Md. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland women's lacrosse team held off Catholic University's late rally as the Seahawks (6-3) notched a 15-14 victory over CUA in non-conference action Thursday afternoon.

Sophomore attacker Nora Fallon-Oben (Silver Spring, Md./St. John's College [D.C.]) scored the would-be game-winner at 6:24 but the Cardinals (5-3) tallied a pair of goals in 3:28 to pull within one with 1:03 remaining in regulation. However, freshman defender Arianna Larrimore (Stevensville, Md./Kent Island) won the ensuing draw control and the Seahawks were able to hold on from there.

Junior attacker Emily Norris (Timonium, Md./Dulaney) paced the Seahawks with three goals and an assist, while midfielders Lauren Carrier (Crownsville, Md./Old Mill) and Elizabeth Northfield (Arnold, Md./Broadneck) each contributed two goals and two assists each. Carrier also had five draw controls. Fallon-Oben finished with a hat trick on the day, while sophomore attacker Kelsey Branch (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) dished out three assists.

The Seahawks (6-3) opened up with a 2-1 lead before three straight Catholic goals, including a pair from sophomore midfielder Kate Robinson (Emmitsburg, Md./Catoctin), gave the Cardinals a 4-3 margin at 11:57. St. Mary's put on a 5-0 run to post a 9-4 advantage at 4:27 before Catholic closed out the half with three unanswered for a 9-7 SMCM lead at halftime.

St. Mary's opened the second half on a 5-2 spurt to go up 14-9 at 14:43. Senior midfielder Marcy Cuneo (Haddonfield, N.J./Camden Catholic) scored twice in a 3-0 CUA run to pull the Cardinals within 14-12 at 7:56.

Robinson finished as the game's scoring leader with six points on four goals and two assists and notched a game-high seven draw controls, while Cuneo added a hat trick and two assists. Freshman attacker Katie Buonpastore (Lansdale, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) added two goals and an assist.

The Seahawks edged Catholic in draw controls, 17 to 14. The Cardinals took 34 shots to SMCM's 24, while winning 23 of 41 ground balls.

Freshman Ella Schoming (Westminster, Md./North Carroll) improved to 6-3 in between the pipes with 12 saves. CUA's sophomore Melissa Brashear (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic) recorded eight stops.

The Seahawks will be idle until next Saturday, March 29 when St. Mary's travels to Owings Mills, Maryland to take on Villa Julie College in Capital Athletic Conference action at 1:00.

2008-03-20