GREENWOOD - The Lander Women's Lacrosse team found themselves in a one goal game at halftime but several costly turnovers in the second half would let the visiting Limestone Saints pull away for a 12-9 win at Van Taylor Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Emmy Peterson led the Bearcats on offense scoring five goals on five shots. Mickey Burnett added two goals while Brooke Kelly and Amelia McCauley would each add a goal off free position opportunities.
The first half was a back and forth affair like the last matchup between the two teams that saw Lander upset then tenth-ranked Limestone 16-15.Â
Just under 90 seconds into the game, Haley Von Achen would find Mickey Burnett who would slot home the opening goal to give Lander a 1-0 lead. However, the Saints would respond back off a Lander turnover to tie the game
With under six minutes to go, Autumn Huskey would cause a Limestone turnover that would find the way to the stick of Emmy Peterson as she would find the back of the cage to give Lander a 2-1 lead.
The teams would continue to trade goals for the rest of the quarter but free position goals from
Amelia McCauley and
Emmy Peterson, the latter coming as time expired in the quarter would give the Bearcats a 4-3 lead after 15 minutes of action.
Peterson would make it 5-3 from a free position just over a minute into the second quarter. Lauren Fallow would have a chance to really create some separation with another chance from the top of the arc but it would be saved and the ensuing possession would start a 3-0 scoring run for Limestone that covered just under a minute of action to completely flip the scoreline and give the visitors a 6-5 lead.
Peterson would stop the bleeding with a goal off a Limestone turnover but the Saints would strike with just over two minutes to go in the period to give Limestone a 7-6 lead heading into halftime.
Lander would strike first to start the second half as Mickey Burnett would cause a turnover and take it in herself and beat the Limestone goalie to tie the game at seven. However, this would be the last goal that Lander would score for over 15 minutes of game time as the turnovers would start to pile up and the Saints would capitalize off of them as they would go on a 5-0 run across the rest of the third quarter and start of the fourth to give them a 12-7 lead with under ten minutes to go in the game.
Brooke Kelly would try to get Lander back into the game with a 8-meter goal to cut it to 12-8 witb just over eight minutes to go.Â
The Bearcats would have several opportunities to continue to cut into the lead as Kara Krusbe would continue to be stellar between the posts as she recorded 13 saves in the game. However, the turnover bug would continue to bite at the worst time and prevent the Blue and Gold from getting closer until Peterson would score her fifth and final goal of the game but unfortunately it would be the last goal of the game by either team as Limestone held on to give the Bearcats their second straight defeat.
Lander hits the road this Saturday to take on their fourth straight South Atlantic Conference foe as they face Catawba for a 3:30 PM start.
