Philadelphia, Pa. – The UMBC women's lacrosse team improved to 6-0 for the first time in program history as the Retrievers pulled out a thrilling 11-9 win against the Temple Owls at Howarth Field on Saturday afternoon.
Senior midfielder
Katana Nelson and freshman attacker
Emily Knapp hit the back of the net three times to power the red-hot Retrievers. Nelson also contributed a team-high two caused turnovers, while
Lauryn Warfield and
Ella Killian won four draws each. Senior
Avery Corino moved into UMBC's all-time Top-10 list in caused turnovers.
Graduate student goalie
Isabella Fontana made seven saves and added a team-high three ground balls. She moved into 5th place all-time in program history in the latter category.
The Retrievers trailed 9-8 after Erin King (three goals) gave the Owls their final lead with 13:06 left in the contest.
Knapp found fellow freshman
Tess Curtis for the equalizer with 11:40 left, and then Knapp put UMBC on top for good on a free-position tally with 7:08 left on the clock.
Sophomore
Emma O'Callaghan gave the Dawgs an insurance marker with just 1:36 left to put the game away.
It was a tight contest the whole way through after UMBC jumped out to a 3-1 lead after a tally by senior
Grace Bruce (assist from
Libby Staples) at the 3:13 mark of the opening quarter. Nelson scored two unassisted goals to open the contest.
The game was eventually deadlocked at 6-6 at the break after Temple's Emily Liberio scored unassisted goals over the final 3:35 of the first second quarter.
Temple opened the second-half scoring at the 10:19 mark, but Nelson tied the game at 7-7 off an assist by Knapp with 5:55 remaining in the third stanza.
Lily Caravela scored a woman-up goal to provide Temple with an 8-7 edge with 5:09 left in the third, but Knapp squared things up with an unassisted goal for the final tally of the third quarter.
UMBC dominated much of the play, holding a 45-24 advantage in shots, including 29-16 in shots on goal.
Temple netminder Taylor Grollman kept the Owls in the game by making 18 saves.
The Retrievers scored seven of their goals on free-position opportunities.
UMBC will host Delaware (3-2) on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.
