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RAMS

JJ HENDRICKSON Contributing Writer

The VCU women’s lacrosse program defeated the Duquesne Dukes 13-10 in a Sunday afternoon matchup at Cary Street Field.

The win halted a two-game losing streak for the Rams, according to VCU athletics. VCU head coach Nicole Flores said the team did not have a perfect performance, but ultimately did enough to get the win at the end of the day.

“I thought we were resilient,” Flores said. “We weren’t lacking in errors and mistakes, but we found a way to make up for it and put the ball in the back of the net.”

In the first quarter, neither team was able to get on the scoreboard for the first 11 minutes. Duquesne senior midfielder Alana Piano was able to break the drought with a goal. Freshman midfielder Mackenzie Leszczynski scored just 37 seconds later to double the Dukes’ lead.

At the end of the quarter, Duquesne was leading 2-0. Despite the Dukes taking seven more shots than the Rams, the game remained close thanks to the play of VCU redshirt junior goalkeeper Meghna Dawar. Dawar had six saves through the first 15 minutes.

Duquesne scored another goal early in the second quarter before VCU was able to find the back of the net. VCU sophomore midfielder Kelsey McDonnell opened the scoring for the Rams with her team-leading 24th goal of the season, according to VCU athletics. After one more goal from the Dukes, VCU was able to hit its stride. VCU senior midfielder Savannah Slack, junior attacker Juliana George and junior midfielder Lauren Marosi each scored a goal in about a one minute stretch to tie the game.

Both teams were level at four goals each entering the halftime break. Duquesne took twice as many shots as VCU, but Dawar continued to deny many of the Dukes’ chances, with four more saves in the second quarter.

The black and gold struggled early in the second half, as they had no answers for Duquesne’s attack and surrendered three unanswered goals. Similar to the second quarter, VCU found the spark they needed and got themselves back into the game. VCU freshman midfielder Casey Murray scored twice and senior attacker Abby Osmeyer scored to level the score once again, 7-7.

Slack said the Rams’ calm demeanor is what allows them to fight through deficits like the one they faced on Sunday afternoon.

“I think from the sidelines to going on the field everyone just stays composed the whole time,” Slack said. “We don’t get any negativity, we stay positive the whole time and just say, like, we got this in us.”

The Dukes bounced back with a goal of their own with four seconds left in the third quarter. Duquesne regained the lead entering the fourth quarter 8-7.

“It was a great feeling, but again, I have to hand it off to the rest of my teammates because I wouldn’t have gotten that goal without all of them,” Slack said.

The Rams scored twice more before the horn sounded at the end of the game. Slack and George finished with three goals each, while George added an assist as well. George said the team’s preparation allowed her, along with the rest of the team, to have such a high level of success.

“I think we went into [the game] very prepared from our coaches,” George said. “We moved the ball quickly, worked as a unit, which I think is one of our main goals recently, and everyone did their job well. We had many different scorers on attack, which I think helped. We all played together.”

Six different Rams had their names on the scoresheet by the time the game ended. Coach Flores said having so many individual scorers is important for the team.

“It’s vital. They were playing a high-pressure zone, so we were able to move the ball, find the gaps and finish the play,” Flores said.

The win brought the Rams’ record to 6-5 overall and 2-2 in conference play.

The Rams’ next game will be against the University of Virginia on Wednesday, April 6 at 7 p.m. in Charlottesville. The game will be televised on ACC NetworkX.

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