YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. - After a two week break, the Lander Women's Lacrosse team returned to the field and did not miss a beat as they defeated the Young Harris Mountain Lions 20-7 on Wednesday afternoon in north Georgia. This was the second straight game the Bearcats hit the 20-goal mark and the third time this season.
Lander, who won their fourth straight game and fifth in their last six, improved to 10-5 overall and 4-1 in Gulf South play while the Mountain Lions dropped their third straight and fell to 6-10 and 1-4 in Gulf South play. The Bearcats currently sit in a tie for first place in the Gulf South standings and will play for a share of the conference title on Saturday.
Alyssa Suchan led the offense with eight points, scoring six goals and assisting on two others. The six goals would put Suchan above the 50-goal mark in a season, joining Emmy Peterson's 52 goal season last year as the only Bearcats to reach that mark so far. Mickey Burnett added four goals while Emmy Peterson and Brooke Kelly each added a hat trick of their own.
In the crease, Kara Krusbe and Taryn Samons split time and each recorded six saves.
Lander came out of the gate hot with eight goals in the first quarter, including a 4-0 run to start the game. Izzy Olson got the scoring started two minutes in and then a minute later Emmy Peterson got on the scoresheet to double the lead. Suchan would get her first goal 30 seconds later and Peterson would cap the scoring run capitalizing on a Mountain Lion turnover to make it 4-0.
Young Harris would get two goals back but Lander would answer with two of their own from Kasey Bronco and Brooke Kelly. The Mountain Lions would get a third goal but the Bearcats would close the quarter with two straight goals from Bronco and Suchan to give them a five-goal advantage after 15 minutes.
The second quarter would open the exact same way as the first as two goals from Suchan and goals from Kelly and Burnett would get the game on the verge of running clock territory in the second quarter at 12-3. The Mountain Lions wouldn't go out without a fight as they would outscore the Bearcats 2-1 the rest of the quarter, with Kasey Bronco finding the back of the cage for the Bearcats, to make it 13-5 going into the halftime break.
Although Young Harris was able to keep the clock from running in the second quarter, Lander would get to the running clock margin and then some as they would open the second half on a 7-0 run, including a 5-0 third quarter. The Bearcats would get two goals from Alyssa Suchan and Mickey Burnett while Amelia McCauley, Emmy Peterson, and Brooke Kelly would each add a goal as well.
Young Harris would get two goals back but they couldn't close the gap below ten to get the clock to stop and Lander would see out the 13-goal win.
The Bearcats will return home for the final regular season game against the 11th-ranked Flagler Saints. With a win, Lander will clinch a share of the GSC Regular Season title and could host the Gulf South Tournament with other results falling in the Blue and Gold's favor. The game with Flagler is set to begin at 2:00 PM.
