The UNH women’s lacrosse team rallied to within one goal, but 17th-ranked Boston College scored five goals in the last four minutes of the game to pull away for a 12-6 victory Wednesday afternoon at the Newton Campus Lacrosse and Soccer Field.
UNH is now 9-6 overall, while BC improves to 11-5.
Four Wildcats recorded two points apiece. Hayley Rausch tallied two goals while JoJo Curro, Shaunna Kaplan and Kate Keagins finished with a goal and an assist. Keagins was also credited with three caused turnovers and two ground balls.
UNH starting goalkeeper Kate Gunts exited after surrendering a goal 4:26 into the game with the score tied, 1-1. Kathleen O’Keefe played the final 55:34 and made five saves. Ilana Cohen, with two ground balls, two drawn charges and one draw control, was named the team’s America East Player of the Game.
BC goalie Sheila Serafino stopped seven shots. Lauren Costello led the attack with six points (5g, 1a). Brittany Wilson finished with four points (2g, 2a) and Brooke Blue scored three goals.
The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead at 27:29 on an unassisted goal by Kaplan, who drove down the middle of the fan and fired a shot inside the right post.
BC scored three goals in a span of 7:34 to take a 3-1 lead. The Eagles pulled even, 1-1, when Brittany Wilton fired a shot from the top of the fan high into the goal. Lauren Costello gave the home team a 2-1 lead at 21:09 by rolling behind the net to the left post and placing a low shot into the net. BC extended the advantage to two goals at 18:00 on a Jill Rekart goal.
Allie Bratton lifted the Wildcats to within 3-2 at 9:00 when she maneuvered around three defenders down the middle of the fan and, from close range, fired a shot into the upper-right corner.
Jill Amo was fouled in the fan by O’Keefe to set up a free position with an open net, and she took advantage of the opportunity to give the Eagles a 4-2 lead going into halftime.
Blue scored goals 44 seconds apart – at 27:02 and 26:18 – to quickly extend Boston College’s advantage to 6-2.
Later, Costello rolled behind the net to the left post and scored from point-blank range to give the Eagles a 7-2 lead at 23:13.
The Wildcats scored four consecutive goals to pull within 7-6. Keagins opened the run with a drive down the left side and shot inside the near post at 21:16. The ‘Cats then scored on a pair of passes from behind the net to trim the deficit to 7-5. Curro, positioned low in the fan, corralled Kaplan’s pass and shot high into the net for a goal at 13:18. Curro then set up the next tally at 8:19 by finding Rausch, who was unmarked as she charged from the top of the fan. UNH struck again at 7:00 when Keagins, from the top-right of the fan, slipped a pass past an Eagles’ defender to Rausch cutting down the middle, and she scored on a shot to the upper-left corner.
BC called timeout at that point and won the ensuing draw control. They lost possession, however, on an unforced turnover in which Casey Doyle corralled a ground ball with six minutes remaining. UNH committed a turnover, however, and a patient BC attack yielded Wilton’s unassisted goal at 3:35 that gave the Eagles an 8-6 lead.
Boston College controlled the following draw. O’Keefe left the net in an attempt to force a turnover, but instead was whistled for a foul deep on the left wing. That gave Costello an open net on the re-start, and she scored at 1:45 to move the score to 9-6.
UNH won the draw, but a long pass into the fan was intercepted by the Eagles, who quickly advanced the ball downfield for a goal by Costello at 1:17 for a 10-6 lead. Blue scored with 24 seconds on the clock, and Costello capped the scoring with three seconds left.
BC finished with the edge in both shots (24-14) and draw controls (13-7). UNH had a 19-17 advantage in ground balls and committed two fewer turnovers (13-15).
New Hampshire concludes the regular season May 1 (1 p.m.) at the University of Vermont. The Wildcats will be making a league-record 13th consecutive appearance in the America East Championship tournament in a May 6 semifinal game.
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