Women’s Lacrosse: Crawford, Garnet Defense Combine For Victory
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Junior midfielder Katie Crawford tallied a hat trick and the Garnet defense was solid as Swarthmore earned an 8-6 victory over Muhlenberg Thursday in Centennial Conference action on Clothier Field.
The Garnet (12-3 overall) improved to 4-3 in conference play with two conference games remaining on in 2006. The 12 victories is the most by a Swarthmore team since the 1995 season, when the Garnet went 13-4.
Swarthmore was hot right from the start, with junior midfielder Lindsay Roth putting the Garnet on the scoreboard just 35 seconds into the game. The offense kept coming as Swarthmore rolled to a 6-0 lead, thanks to goals from Crawford, Athena Samras '07, Heidi Fieselman '06, Roth, and Megan Sanborn '08. Senior midfielder Niamh Shortt registered an assist on Samaras' goal.
Muhlenberg (8-5, 3-3 CC) responded to the offensive outburst with two quick goals late in the first half, including Courtney Tapkas' milestone 200th career goal. Crawford scored her second goal of the game with a little over a minute remaining in the half, giving the Garnet a comfortable 7-2 lead at halftime.
Muhlenberg came on strong in the second half, scoring three unanswered goals to bring them to within 2. Crawford scored again for Swarthmore at the 51:11 mark to give the Garnet some breathing room, and then narrowly missed scoring her fourth and fifth goals of the game as two of her shots hit the crossbar. Muhlenberg's Sara Hiller scored with 17 seconds left in the game, but that wasn't enough as Swarthmore escaped with an 8-6 victory.
Crawford now has 26 goals on the year, and Roth's two scores also give her 26 on the season.
The Garnet dominated offensively, recording 30 shots, while Muhlenberg could muster only 15 thanks to relentless Garnet pressure on the defensive end.
Freshman defender Melissa Grigsby played lock-down defense on Tapkas, as Muhlenberg's prolific scorer (tied for first in the CC in goals per game entering the game) only registered a pair of goals. Grigsby also forced 3 turnovers and collected 5 groundballs. Defender Chloe Lewis '06 and Sanborn also picked up 5 groundballs apiece.
Sophomore goaltender Susannah Blair recorded seven saves in net for Swarthmore.
Entering the game, the Garnet were fifth in the Centennial Conference standings, battling for a spot in the conference playoffs. In their two remaining conference games, Swarthmore will take on Haverford, who is winless in conference play, and Ursinus, who is currently in 4th place.
The Garnet travel to Haverford on Tuesday, April 18 for at 5:00 p.m. Centennial game. Swarthmore downed the Fords 13-5 on March 18 in the second round of the 2006 Seven Sisters Championship.