The women’s lacrosse team overcame a 4-0 first-quarter deficit for the second time this season, ultimately triumphing in a 10-7 victory over hosts Monmouth University on Sunday.
A career day from sophomore midfielder Isabelle Pohmer — who posted a team-high five goals — allowed the Leopards (4-1 overall) to climb out of the early ditch dug by the Hawks (5-2 overall).
“It shows how resilient we are as a team and how bad that we want to win this year,” Pohmer said. “Obviously, going down zero to four is a deal in a game, but it is a true test to that we can come back and we can persevere through that.”
Monmouth connected on its first goal just 38 seconds in, and built its lead to 4-0 with a minute left in the frame. Head coach Katie McConnell uttered a similar message to the previous weekend’s comeback against Mount St. Mary’s University after the quarter ended.
“She knew it was time to fire us up,” senior goalie Kennedy Carr said. “It was basically ‘Get your head out of your asses and get going.’”
The Leopards finally got on the board with nine minutes left in the half, courtesy of freshman attacker Georgia Swarr, but the Hawks pushed the advantage back to four a minute later.
Momentum quickly shifted towards the Maroon and White, belting off a 5-0 run to take the lead. Sophomore midfielder Annie Madden and senior attacker Kristin Igneri each found the net, alongside Pohmer, who completed a second-quarter hat trick.
“We picked up on their tendencies,” sophomore midfielder Sadie Martiesian said. “It’s all just about communication; we stayed together and ultimately that’s what gave us the opportunity to come back.”
Pohmer’s go-ahead goal just barely beat the buzzer to give the Leopards a 6-5 halftime lead.
“There were 10 seconds left, and the ball just happened to be at my stick,” Pohmer said. “I took a shot and it went in.”
Monmouth briefly knotted the score just under two minutes into the third quarter, but a 4-0 run from the Maroon and White in less than five minutes gave the visitors some distance. Igneri and Martiesian kicked the stretch off before Pohmer tallied her final two goals of the contest.
“It was all about making sure that our offense was staying fluid,” Martiesian said. “Their goalie was pretty good, but we did a good job of placing our shots and moving her.”
Despite the Leopards going scoreless for the last 22 minutes of game time, the Hawks only managed one more score — coming in the opening minute of the fourth quarter — allowing the Leopards to cruise to the victory.
“The defense locked in,” Pohmer said. “They played super together and aggressive.”
The Leopards dominated all offensive metrics, outshooting the Hawks 38-21 and outpacing ground balls 17-14. Carr finished with eight saves on the day.
Although all 10 Leopard goals came unassisted, Martiesian said all scores are assisted, whether or not they appear on the stat sheet.
“We have a lot of skilled athletes on our team,” she said. “Whether those goals were unassisted or not, it’s all about us moving for each other, and those lanes were there because of us working as a team.”
The Maroon and White will commence their Patriot League schedule by hosting Holy Cross (2-4 overall) on Saturday.
“We just need to keep doing what we’re doing,” Pohmer said. “I think we’re set up to do very well this year; we have all the tools necessary.”