LANCASTER, Pa. --- The 17th-ranked Fredonia women's lacrosse team used a three-goal run in the second half to pull away for a 9-5 win over 10th-ranked Washington and Lee on Saturday afternoon in the regional round of the NCAA Division III Tournament at Tylus Field.
Fredonia (17-3) controlled the last 15:21 of the contest after sophomore midfielder Kristie Kleine ignited the 3-0 spurt when she scored off of a free position shot for a 7-5 lead. Junior attacker Katie Miller and midfielder Katie Kleine scored the Blue Devils' last two goals at the 11:54 and 3:46 marks to secure the victory.
Fredonia got on the board first when senior midfielder Marissa Cussins found the back of the net off of a feed from Katie Kleine just 5:59 into the contest. W&L responded at the 21:11 mark when first-year attacker Liz Curtis (Nashville, Tenn. / Harpeth Hall) scored on a free position chance to tie the game at 1-1.
The Blue Devils then registered back-to-back goals off of free position shots to increase their lead to 3-1, until Curtis struck again with 10:43 remaining in the first half to pull the Generals within one (3-2).
Junior attacker Melissa Coggins (St. John's, Fla. / Bartram Trail) evened the game at 3-3 when she scored off of an assist from sophomore midfielder Olivia Sisson (Great Falls, Va. / Langley) with 7:19 left in the first half, but Fredonia notched the last two goals of the stanza to take a 5-3 lead into intermission.
Sisson opened up the second half with free position goal at the 25:54 mark (5-4), but senior attacker Katie Glagolev tallied the Blue Devils' sixth goal just 4:41 later off of an assist from Katie Kleine (6-4).
Sisson recorded a second goal off an assist by senior midfielder Sammy Yates (Ridgewood, N.J. / Ridgewood) with 19:18 remaining in the contest to cut Fredonia's lead to one (6-5), but the Blue Devils' game-ending run put the game away.
W&L and Fredonia each took 17 shots. The Generals held a 12-6 advantage in ground balls and the Blue Devils held a 10-5 edge in draw controls.
Senior keeper Cara Mulligan (Glen Ridge, N.J. / Glen Ridge) played the entire game in net for the Generals, stopping four shots. She ends her career with 449 saves, which are the fifth-most in program history. First-year goalie Nicole Burrows earned the win for the Blue Devils, posting five saves.
Sisson led the Blue and White's offense with two goals and one assist, while Curtis tallied two goals. Coggins had one goal and Yates dished out one assist.
Kristie Kleine paced Fredonia with three markers and one assist, and Cussins finished with two goals.
With the loss, the Generals end their season with a 16-3 overall record. W&L captured its 16th conference championship and made its 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, making it to the regional round for just the seventh time in program history.
--- This release is courtesy of the Washington and Lee University sports information department. ---
www.generalssports.com