By Amber DeFabio
The KU’s women’s lacrosse team played Slippery Rock University this past Saturday, April 18, hosting the team on Keystone Field in a bout that led to a loss of 19-11 on the Golden Bear’s senior day.
Seniors of the 2015 graduating class Kelsey Halligan, Jillian Spencer and Taylor Stone were honored pre-game for their contribution to the team over the past four years.
As the game began, the maroon and gold were still getting into the rhythm of game play, attempting to change defensive strategies from their bout against Mercyhurst University the day before.
Slippery Rock took advantage of the open field space that was given to them and within three minutes of the first half, the Golden Bears were down by two points.
Five minutes later, Golden Bear freshman Madison Carlucci scored the first point against Slippery Rock.
Slippery Rock’s offense was still looking strong and its attack was aggressive, resulting in eight more goals during the first thirty minutes of game play.
Three more goals were also scored for the Golden Bears by Spencer with an assist by Stone, junior Cara Lord with an assist by Spencer, and freshman Sarah Gabriele.
By the end of the first half, the Bears were positioned in a 10-4 setback.
As the second half began, the results continued in favor of Slippery Rock.
Defense was tight on the opposing team. During the first 13 minutes of the second half, Slippery Rock applied pressure to the Golden Bear offense until a turnover occurred.
Slippery Rock had scored four more goals before Gabriele scored KU’s fifth point of the day.
The Golden Bears rallied and within the next ten minutes scored six more goals.
With five seconds left on the clock, Spencer scored KU’s last point with an assist by Stone, resulting in a 19-11 loss.
Golden Bear goals were also scored in the second half by freshman Lauren Huggins, Stone, and sophomore Devan Davis.
“It was tough to prepare for one specific way because we had back to back games yesterday and today, ”Golden Bear Head Coach
Kate Scattergood said. “We have to make adaptions on the fly defensively to match our opponent.”
KU will play their last home game this season against Lock Haven University on Wednesday, April 22.