Box Score

SCRANTON, Pa. – The Mount Saint Mary College women's lacrosse team (7-6) fought back from three significant deficits on Monday, but ultimately fell one goal short in an 18-17 loss to Marywood University (7-8) at Pacers Turf Field.
 
The Knights trailed 17-11 with just under 13 minutes to play after a pair of goals by Marywood's Sarah Caughy. The Knights strung together four straight goals over the next five minutes to cut the deficit to two. Caughy scored once again at the 3:52 mark to put the Pacers up 18-15.
 
Sophomore defender Claire Duffy (Monroe, N.Y.) grabbed the ensuing draw control, and then freshman attacker Katie Gattoni (Old Tappan, N.J.) scored just 39 seconds after Caughy to shrink the deficit back to two. Senior midfielder Tara McDermott (Tewksbury, N.J.) scooped up another draw control for the Knights, eventually leading to a free-position goal for sophomore attacker Jen Gries (Hicksville, N.Y.), leaving the Knights down by just one with 2:46 to play.
 
Marywood won the next draw control, giving the Pacers a chance to hold the ball and ice the game. McDermott then caused a turnover and got the Knights back in position to score. Jen Gries fired off a shot on net with 1:44 to play, but Pacer goalkeeper Lauren Smith stopped the shot and put the home team back on the offensive. Marywood's Kimberly Commisso tried to put the game out of reach at the 1:06 mark, but freshman goalkeeper Fae Kuhnen (Bayside, N.Y.) made the stop to give the Knights one last chance.
 
McDermott picked up the ground ball off the save, which led to a successful clear by the Knights with under a minute to play. Duffy tried her luck with 44 seconds left, but her shot sailed wide. She got another attempt 11 seconds later, but Smith made another huge save for the Pacers, this time getting the ball to Emily Osborne who sparked a successful clear for Marywood to end the game.
 
Smith made 11 saves to hold off the Knights and pick up the win. Kuhnen suffered the loss in her first collegiate start in net, but stopped seven shots.
 
The Knights got on the board first on Monday when Gattoni scored just 56 seconds into the game to kick off what ended up as a huge night for the rookie. Marywood responded by scoring the next six goals to go up 6-1. The Knights picked up the next three to get within two, but Marywood scored four of the next six goals to close out the half on top, 11-7.
 
Marywood scored four of the first five goals of the second half to take a 15-8 lead. Another three-goal run for the Knights brought the deficit back down to four, but Caughy scored those two goals to go up 17-11 with 12:50 to play.
 
Caughy finished up with six points on the evening, including five goals. Commisso matched her with five goals, while Dana Grossjung added four more for the home team. Smith led the Pacers with four ground balls, while Cossimmo picked up 13 draw controls.
 
Gattoni matched her most productive game of the season with six goals and two assists for eight points. Senior midfielder Erica Massmann (West Babylon, N.Y.) and sophomore defender Nicole Scicutella (Massapequa, N.Y.) each tallied a hat trick. Scicutella added two assist for a season-high five points. Senior attacker Nicole Palmieri (Elwood, N.Y.) and junior attacker Vanessa DiSilvio (Massapequa, N.Y.) each added two goals and two assists. Duffy led the Knights with four ground balls on the evening.
 
The Knights outshot their opponents, 36-27, including 28 shots on goal to 25 for Marywood. The Pacers scooped up 24 ground balls, while the Knights managed 20. The Knights were successful on 14-of-17 clear attempts, while Marywood completed just 16-of-25.
 
The Knights get back to work Wednesday evening in their final regular season game. They will host The Sage Colleges at Kaplan Field with a chance to spoil an opportunity for a postseason berth for the Gators. The game is set to begin at 7 p.m.
 
Follow the Knights on Twitter at @MSMCKnights