Palombo's Four Goals Not Enough as Women's Lacrosse Falls to AIC, 12-8, Saturday Afternoon
Links: Highlights | Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. – The Merrimack College women's lacrosse team returned home for the first time in nine days against American International College for a Northeast-10 Conference battle, but the Warriors could not overcome the Yellow Jackets attack, as Merrimack lost 12-8 on Saturday afternoon from Martone-Mejail Field.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 8 | AIC 12
Records: Merrimack (3-9, 1-7 NE-10) | AIC (4-10, 0-10 NE-10)
Location: Martone-Mejail Field | North Andover, Mass.
How It Happened
The Warriors were looking to snap a seven-game losing streak, and the contest started well as senior midfielder Giulia Palombo (Sandwich, Mass.) scored the first goal of the afternoon off a feed from freshman Valerie Dayton (Belmont, Mass.). Dayton made a return to the lineup after missing the previous five games.
The Yellow Jackets answered by scoring the next five goals of the contest. The scoring lapse ended for the Warriors when junior Danielle Riley (West Point, N.Y.) potted one on a free-position to make it a 5-2 game. AIC ended the half on a 3-0 run to make it 8-2 entering halftime.
Freshman goalkeeper Alexa Petzold (Ridgewood, N.J.) made four first-half saves. The Warriors were successful on 8-of-9 clearing attempts, and were able to put eight shots the Yellow Jackets' cage.
It took until 6:20 into the second half for either team to score, but Palombo netted one off a feed from redshirt freshman attack Hunter McCarthy (Avon, Conn.) to make it 8-3. Freshman defender Carly McKenna (Saco, Maine) went coast-to-coast less than one minute later to make it a four-goal game with less than 23 minutes to play.
American International responded by scoring four of the games next five goals to put the game out of reach. Kelly Reilly led the Yellow Jackets' attack by posting a six-point game with two goals and four assists. She tallied a helper on three of AIC's first four goals of the day.
Merrimack responded well by scoring three straight goals to end the contest. Junior Aubrie Stouffer (Souderton, Pa.) jumped on the score sheet by going high-to-high with 64 seconds left. Palombo scored her final score of the game on the run, while junior defender Olivia Coakley (Bridgewater, Mass.) scored her first goal of the season and final goal of the game to make it 12-8.
Inside The Numbers
- Palombo was the story of the game for the Warriors, as she affected every facet of the contest. She set a new season high with her four tallies, and it marked her first multi-goal and multi-point game of the year. She also led the Warriors in shots (5), ground balls (5) and caused turnovers (2)
- McKenna continues to make steady improvements during her rookie campaign. She scored her second goal of the season, snapping a four-game goal drought. She also added two ground balls
- After setting a career high with six goals last season, Coakley netted her first of 2015 against AIC. Stouffer, who assisted on the goal, totaled her first helper over the last three games and collected her sixth multi-point game
- Petzold finished the contest with eight saves, four in each half. She now has at least seven saves in seven of the last eight games. Her counterpart, Alexis Torosian, finished the afternoon with five stops
- Both programs struggled in the clearing game with AIC totaling eight failed clears and Merrimack turning the ball over on five attempted clears. The Yellow Jackets won 16 of a possible 22 draw controls, controlling most of the possession
Up Next
The Warriors hit the road on Tuesday afternoon to take on No. 7 New Haven at 4 p.m.
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