Wilkes-Barre, PA -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's lacrosse team played its 2nd game in as many days on Saturday, as they took on Wilkes in Wilkes-Barre. The Panthers fell behind the Colonel early and ultimately fell 18-4.
The hosts jumped ahead from the start, controlling the opening draw, and then scoring after 2 minutes of play. They doubled their lead a minute later and then scored from a free position shot with 7:34 left in the quarter. The Panthes were finally able to break through after 9 minutes of play, scoring on their first shot of the game. Christina Abel received a pass at the top of the zone and then beat her defender with pace, sprinting to the left side of the goal. She aimed a shot back across the crease, beating the goalie to the bottom right corner for her 4th goal of the season. The hosts struck right back, scoring 25 seconds later to restore their 3-goal lead.
The Colonels controlled possession moving into the second quarter and forced Lily Thuman into a pair of early saves. The hosts broke through a minute later and then tacked on two more in a span of 32 seconds to go ahead 7-1 with 10 minutes left in the half. They continued to control possession and added two more goals before the Panthers broke through offensively with their second goal of the game. Down a player due to a penalty, the Panthers broke out of their defensive zone with two long passes. Thuman found Haley Carlo with the first, who passed to Addison Molampy near midfield. Molampy sprinted into the offensive zone, spun back behind the defense, and fired past the keeper for her first of the game. Pitt-Bradford could not build momentum, however, as the hosts scored 2 goals in the last 90 seconds of the half to go to the break leading 11-2.
The hosts scored on their first possession after the restart, but Pitt-Bradford was able to respond immediately, scoring with a Colonel in the penalty box. Molampy drew the penalty on a drive to the goal, and then on the resulting free position attempt, bounced a shot into the goal for her second of the contest. Wilkes answered back with two more goals with 9 and 6 minutes left in the quarter before the Panthers had their next shot, an effort from Abel that missed the net. Neither team mustered a shot after a Thuman save with 3:41 left, pushing the game to the 4th with the Panthers down 14-3.
In the 4th, the hosts scored after 4 minutes to increase their lead to 12, but the Panthers came back two minutes later to score their fourth of the game. After a shot-clock violation, Makartnee Mortimer found Molampy on the wing, who successfully cleared the ball into the offensive end. Molampy laid a pass off to Abel, who was able to out-maneuver her defender and place a shot into the corner for her second of the game. The Colonels controlled the majority of possession over the final 8 minutes of the game, tacking on three more goals to their total.
Christina Abel and Addison Molampy each scored two goals in the loss. Abel took 4 shots inthe game, while Molampy attempted 3. Lily Thuman made 9 saves for the Panthers.
The loss drops the Panthers to 1-2 on the season. They will be back in action next Saturday, with a road matchup at Saint Vincent.
