SALEM, VA--The Roanoke College women’s lacrosse team used an 8-2 second half to defeat the Hartwick College Hawks, 11-9, on Wednesday afternoon to improve to 2-2 on the season. The Maroons, who are ranked 17th in the country in the latest Division III polls, have now won four consecutive meetings with the Hawks. The Hawks fall to 2-2 on the season.
The first half was all Hartwick. The Hawks jumped on the Maroons early, going up by as many as five goals, 7-2. Hartwick’s Nicole Oh had the Maroons’ number in the first half, scoring three goals and handing out two assists. After the Hawks scored the first two goals of the contest, the Maroons cut the lead in half. The Maroons would not score for the next 22 minutes, falling behind by the five tallies before Amy Kelaher (Setuaket, NY/Ward Melville) scored with 45 seconds left in the half.
The second half was a different story as the Maroons dominated play, outscoring HC 8-2. After the teams traded two goals apiece in the first four minutes of the half, the Roanoke defense tightened up, not allowing the Hawks to score in the game’s final 26:22. In that time, RC slowly chipped away at the lead and when Kelaher put in her sixth goal of the game with 3:51 to play, the Maroons had taken the lead for good. Roanoke had tied the score at nine with three goals in the span of four minutes midway through the half.
Kelaher finished the day with six goals, while junior Sue Digby (Catonsville, MD/Catonsville) had two goals and four assists. Leslie Hunt (Baltimore, MD/Towson) rounded out the Roanoke scoring, finding the back of the net three times.
After scoring three times in the first half, Hartwick’s Oh had just one in the second half for four in the contest. Oh also finished the game with two assists, while Adrienne Spinozzi scored twice for the visiting Hawks.
Roanoke hosts St. Mary’s (MD) in a 3:00 pm contest on Saturday afternoon. The game will follow the men’s lacrosse game, which is scheduled for a 1:00 pm start, with Lynchburg College.