April 27, 2008

Moraga, CA - The Saint Mary's women's lacrosse team closed out the 2008 regular season with a 20-8 loss to the No. 19 ranked Denver Pioneers in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation game from Saint Mary's Stadium on Sunday afternoon. With the loss, Saint Mary's falls to 2-14 overall and 0-5 in MPSF play, while the Pioneers finished their regular season with a 12-5 record and a 5-0 mark against the MPSF.

On a day when Saint Mary's honored seniors Chloe Dee, Alex Oetken and Lisa Vogeley before the game, the Gaels got off to a quick start, and carried the momentum through the first half. Abbie Coleman got the Gaels on the scoreboard first, scoring an unassisted goal just 1:15 into the game.

Following the Coleman goal, Denver answered with three straight goals by Megan Tyree, Lexi Sanders and Karen Morton. The Gaels did not back down from the 19th-ranked Pioneers, and answered with goals by P.J. Hainley and Dana Elfvin to even the score at 3-3 midway through the first half.

Denver regained the lead with a pair of goals by Jocelyn Kuchta, and after Hainley scored her second goal of the game to cut the Denver lead to 5-4, the Pioneers closed the half with goals by Dani Espinosa and Megan Zemen to post a 7-4 lead at halftime.

Although Denver fired off 23 first-half shots, Saint Mary's goalkeeper Hilary Gardner made eight stops in the first half to help keep the game close at the break. The story of the second half was much different, as Denver exploded to score 13 goals in the final 30 minutes, while allowing SMC four second-half goals.

Denver opened the second half by scoring the seven unanswered goals in the first six minutes of the half. The seven goal flurry gave the Pioneers nine straight goals, and a 14-4 lead with 24:30 remaining in the game. Saint Mary's tried to answer as Clair Purcell and Alana Burrough scored unassisted goals, but Denver was to tough, and answered with five straight goals to half any thought of a Gaels comeback.

Denver controlled play in the offensive end much of the day, and outshot the Gaels 41-16. The Pioneers also controlled the draws, collecting 19 draw controls compared to 12 by the Gaels. Saint Mary's goalkeeper Gardner made 12 saves for the game, while the pair of Becky Childs and Katie Gold combined to make three saves for the Pioneers.

Saint Mary's will return to action in the MPSF Tournament next week, when the Gaels are the six-seed in the championship. The Gaels will open the tournament against Stanford on Wednesday, April 30 at 3 p.m. All games of the MPSF Tournament will be played at Cal's Memorial Stadium.