ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Capital University women's lacrosse team made more history on Friday as they traveled to meet up with their OAC foes, the Mount Union Purple Raiders. Since the Capital women's lacrosse program took flight in 2014, the Comets have never been able to get the best of their nemesis from the northwest. That all changed today as the drought ended with a 17-13 Cap victory.
The Comets remain perfect at 15-0 with just two games remaining in the regular season. The game proved to be huge in the OAC standings as Capital now stands alone atop the table with an unblemished 6-0 OAC record. Mt. Union – who also stood undefeated and in second place heading into the day – now falls to 4-1 in the conference and 9-3 overall.
Offensively, six Comets reached the back of the net.
Grace Osborn was back in her best form, scoring seven times and assisting twice for a team-leading nine points. Her partner in crime,
Brooke Delara, also found her fair share of nylon as she netted five times in the win, and accounted for three assists for a total of eight points. Elsewhere in the scoring column were
Dylan Smith (2),
Katie Page (1),
Julia Foresi (1), and
Luci Kanowsky.
On the defensive side of things, Capital coaxed Mount Union into committing 21 turnovers, nine of which were directly caused by a Comet.
Maddy Radanof led the team in caused cough-ups with three, while Molly Searls and Page each forced two turnovers, and Delara and
Bee Kuehn forced one apiece. The Comets accounted for 21 ground ball pick-ups with five going to Radanof and four to Kuehn. Also amongst the Capital scoopers were
Molly Searles (3), Page (3), Delara (2), Foresi (2),
Hanna Searles (1), and Osborn (1).
In the cage,
Bee Kuehn made five saves, now sitting with 86 on the season. She collected her 15th winning decision of the year.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was another tough test for Capital, as they found themselves in an unfamiliar position, down two in the early stages of the game. However, that did not last long.
Grace Osborn would go ahead and score twice within a minute to bring the Comets back even. From there, Mount Union bolted ahead once again, grabbing another two goal lead. The Comets came back again, this time with Osborn putting three in the back of the net to give Cap a one goal advantage. After another goal from the Purple Raiders, the firecracker of a first quarter ended with the score tied at five.
Brooke Delara went to work in the second quarter, having a hand in the first five goals of the period. She started with four straight goals of her own and then assisted on a fifth by
Dylan Smith to give the Comets a 10-5 lead. Mount Union then responded with a goal that was quickly matched by Luci Kanowski. Despite giving up another goal to end the quarter, the Comets took an 11-7 advantage into the locker room.
The two squads nearly matched each other goal-for-goal in the third set of 15 minutes, but Mount Union did end up taking a slight bite out of the deficit, coming up just three goals short at the end of the quarter. Capitals offensive strikes were scored by Foresi and Osborn, with the first being a combination of the two as Osborn fed Foresi. Osborn would then strike twice, the first coming from a dime by Delara. At the end of the third quarter, the score stood close at 14-11 in favor of Capital.
The final period was split evenly amongst the two teams. It started with Mount Union surging to within two, then Page and Delara paired up for a set of shorthanded strikes to put the Purple Raiders away, 17-13.
THE OPPONENT
Mount Union was led by Syndey Bumbarger with five goals. Molly McGinnis was in the cage with six saves. She gets credited with the loss.
UP NEXT
Capital now gets another week off to rest and recuperate before their April 23 matchup with the Polar Bears of Ohio Northern University. That Saturday afternoon affair will take place at Bernlohr Stadium at 1 p.m. EST.
