LANCASTER, Pa. (May 12, 2018) - The FDU women's lacrosse team fell to No. 11 Tufts University 17-8 in the NCAA Tournament First Round Saturday afternoon.
FDU ends its season with a 15-5 record, while Tufts advances to take on host and No. 7 Franklin & Marshall tomorrow at 2 p.m.
The Devils defense forced an errant pass on the Jumbos first possession, but FDU was unable to capitalize. Tufts notched the opening two goals within a 44 second span to grab an early lead.
Junior
Kathleen Petrucelli stopped the Jumbos early run with an outstanding individual effort. Petrucelli cut toward the goal and absorbed contact, depositing the goal while falling down. Tufts countered with a goal, but junior
Caroline Pape netted a free-position tally to get back within two.
Graduate student
Noelle Shirey trimmed the gap to within one as she bounced a long distance shot past the Tufts keeper. With 18:05 remaining in the half, sophomore
Aliyha Elk leveled the game at four with a free-position goal.
The Jumbos ended the Devils run with two goals in 41 seconds, the second coming off a rebound. Junior
Megan Nemeth had made the original save, but the rebound caromed out to the Jumbos Dakota Adamec who converted the second attempt.
After Pape recorded her second of the game to trim the lead to 6-5, Tufts rolled off four straight markers to head into halftime with a 10-5 lead. Nemeth kept the Devils in the game with eight saves in the opening 30 minutes.
Petrucelli scored just a minute into the second stanza, but the Jumbos took control soon after. Tufts would score the next five tallies to build a 15-6 edge with 11:09 left in the second half.
The Devils ended the run with 9:49 left, as Petrucelli found a cutting
Caitlyn Damon. The Jumbos tallied two more goals after the Damon marker before Petrucelli closed out the scoring with man-down goal with nine seconds remaining in the contest.
Petrucelli led the way with three goals and an assist, while Pape netted a pair of goals.
Noelle Shirey corralled five draw controls while adding two caused turnovers. Nemeth made 12 stops in the setback while also scooping up seven ground balls.
