BELMONT, N.C. - Just like last year's meeting between the two teams, the Lander Women's Lacrosse team found themselves in a down to the wire matchup with Belmont Abbey and once again the Bearcats found themselves coming out on top as they would score two late goals and have a key defensive stop to win their final non-conference game, 20-18, on Wednesday evening.
Lander improved to 9-5 overall with their third straight win while Belmont Abbey dropped to 7-6.
Alyssa Suchan and Emmy Peterson each led the way with six points with Suchan scoring five goals and Peterson scoring four. Brooke Kelly and Mickey Burnett would also score four goals a piece while Izzy Olson added two and Amelia McCauley added another.
In the cage,
Taryn Samons stopped 12 shots, including two crucial saves in the fourth quarter.
As they had the last two games, the Bearcats got out to a hot start with a 4-0 run in the first eight minutes of the game to force a Belmont Abbey timeout. Izzy Olson would get the scoring started before Mickey Burnett would double the lead from the top of the arc. Alyssa Suchan would add two more goals herself to give Lander the 4-0 lead before Belmont Abbey would get a goal back with six and a half minutes to go in the period.
The Crusaders would pull closer with a free position goal of their own to make it 4-2 but
Amelia McCauley would crack the scoresheet off the assist of
Emmy Peterson to extend the lead back to 5-2 going into the second quarter.
Lander would get another goal from Olson to start the second quarter but Belmont Abbey would fire off two straight goals to get the lead back down to two goals forcing a Lander timeout. After the timeout, the Bearcats would respond as Suchan would find Brooke Kelly to give Lander a 7-4 lead. Mickey Burnett would extend the lead to 8-4 off the assist from Kasey Bronco.
Belmont Abbey would get a goal back, capitalizing on a Lander offensive end turnover, to make it 8-5 with just over five to go in the quarter. The hosts would pull closer a couple of minutes later on a power play to make it 8-6.
However, Lander would stop the Crusader scoring stream with Suchan's third goal to give the Bearcats a 9-6 lead and Peterson would score again right before the horn to cap off an almost two minute possession by the Bearcats to end the quarter. Peterson's goal would give the Blue and Gold a 10-6 lead heading into the break.
Belmont Abbey would open the second half on a 3-0 scoring run to cut the Bearcat lead all the way down to one at 10-9 to force a timeout from Bob Dachille. However, the hosts would get another goal with six and a half minutes left and the two teams found themselves tied for the first time since it was 0-0. The Crusaders would then score right off the ensuing draw control to give them their first lead of the game.
Lander would not be fazed as they would fire off a quick 2-0 run as Alyssa Suchan would draw and convert a free position opportunity 50 seconds after the Crusader goal to stop the Belmont Abbey run and tie the game back up at 11. A minute later, Kasey Bronco would find Kelly for her second goal of the game to give Lander the lead back at 12-11.
The lead would be short lived as the hosts would convert a free position chance of their own to bring the score back level at 12. The Crusaders would have another chance from the top of the arc to take the lead by Taryn Samons would be there for her tenth save of the game.
The ensuing possession from Lander would last over 90 seconds and would lead to
Emmy Peterson ripping a shot off a free position in the upper 90 to give Lander a 13-12 lead. However, just when it seemed that the Blue and Gold would get some momentum going into the fourth quarter, Belmont Abbey would get that goal right back to tie the game at 13 going into the last 15 minutes of action.
Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Peterson would find a cutting Brooke Kelly who would find the back of the cage to give Lander a 14-13 lead. Two minutes later, Mickey Burnett would slot home a shot between the legs of the keeper to give Lander some breathing room at 15-13.
Belmont Abbey would not go away quietly as they would answer less than a minute later to cut the Bearcat lead back down to one before tying the game shortly thereafter.
Emmy Peterson would give the Bearcats the lead back on the man advantage but the back and forth nature of the second half would continue as the Crusaders would answer back a minute later to even the game at 16.
The Bearcats would take a one goal lead again, this time off the stick of Alyssa Suchan then after a long Lander possession that resulted in a turnover, Brooke Kelly would quickly force another turnover and have a 1v2 breakaway that would see her find the back of the cage to give the Blue and Gold a 18-16 lead.
Belmont Abbey would respond right back via another converted free position to cut the lead back down to one then would get another goal 50 seconds later to tie the game back at 18.
But Emmy Peterson would answer the call once again as she would slot home a bounce shot past the keeper to restore Lander's lead at 19-18.
Belmont Abbey would have a great chance to tie the game again but Samons would be there to deny the Crusaders and help clear the ball out of the defensive end. After the clear, Lander would hold the ball and milk every possible second off the possession clock before Mickey Burnett would cut across the goal and find the back of the cage to give Lander a two goal lead with under 30 seconds left.
Autumn Huskey would come in clutch picking up the ensuing draw control to not give the Crusaders a chance to find the quick goals that got Lander back into last year's matchup. After a timeout to talk over how Lander would handle the possession, the Bearcats would burn the remaining time off the clock to secure the win.Â
Lander heads into a two week break on a three game winning streak and winners of four of their last five. The Bearcats' next game will be on April 19th at Young Harris before closing out the season at home against nationally-ranked Flagler in a game that could potentially decide the Gulf South Regular Season Title.
