GREENWOOD - An 9-1 first half run by the 17th-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagles put the Lander Women's Lacrosse team behind the eight-ball early but despite a strong showing in the second half, the early deficit proved too much as Embry-Riddle came away with a 15-8 win on Thursday afternoon at Van Taylor Stadium.
Lander dropped to 5-3 with the loss while Embry-Riddle extended their winning streak to seven and moved to 7-1 on the year.
Emmy Peterson led the way with three goals while Alyssa Suchan added two goals and two assists. Brooke Kelly, Mickey Burnett, and Izzy Olson all got on the scoresheet for Lander as well.
The Eagles would strike quickly off the opening draw control and would have the first goal of the game within ten seconds to take a 1-0 lead. That goal sparked a 6-0 scoring run that would be snapped by Mickey Burnett's free-position goal with just over two minutes left in the quarter to get Lander on the board at 6-1 heading into the second quarter.
Turnovers would again haunt Lander in the first half as they would commit 14 of them, including eight in the second quarter. Those eight turnovers led to Lander being held scoreless for only the third quarter all season. The Eagles would slow down on offense but still would put three in the back of the cage to take a 9-1 lead heading into the halftime break.
After halftime, it was Lander's turn to strike quickly as Emmy Peterson would convert a chance from the top of the arc to cut the Eagle lead down to 9-2. Kara Krusbe would then make three straight saves and start a Lander attack that resulted in Alyssa Suchan finding Brooke Kelly for Lander's second straight goal out of the break. Krusbe would end the game with 10 saves, including six in the third quarter.
However, Embry-Riddle would get the two goals back before the end of the quarter and the teams headed into the fourth with the score at 11-3.
The fourth quarter saw a flurry of action from both teams as nine goals were scored and three more opportunities from Lander would be saved.
Embry-Riddle would strike within the first 30 seconds of the quarter but Lander would respond as Suchan would get her first goal of the game to make it 12-4.Â
Lander would kill off a yellow card and would get another goal from the 8-meter from Peterson to cut the lead to seven at 12-5.
However, the Eagles would score three straight goals to put the game out of reach at 15-5.Â
Despite the scoreline not being in their favor, the Bearcats didn't quit as they would close the game on a 3-0 scoring run with goals from Peterson,
Izzy Olson, and Suchan as the horn sounded.
The Bearcats return home on Monday as they welcome their second straight ranked opponent to Van Taylor Stadium in the 25th-ranked Mount Olive Trojans for another matinee start at 3:00 PM.
