It is officially lacrosse season in the NCAA, which means that Rowan women’s lacrosse has kicked off their 2022 campaign. After capturing a 17-6 home victory over Ursinus in their first game of the season, the Profs are on the road this week for two more matchups.
Their first away game came against Salisbury University in Maryland this past Tuesday, March 1. Despite having momentum from their first win, Rowan fell to Salisbury 15-7.
Rowan lost control of the game during the first half, and they were unable to bounce back after that.
In the first half alone, they allowed 13 goals and only put in three of their own. The defense gave Salisbury 23 shot attempts, which led to the Profs having less time of possession and could only get off eight shots of their own.
The defense was something that Head Coach Lindsay Delaney stressed she wanted her team to clean up in their first game against Ursinus.
She mentioned that early on, they were getting “beat behind the crease” in that game, which led to them falling behind early. While the adjustments helped Rowan get the comeback win against Ursinus, Salisbury’s lead was just too much to overcome.
Draw controls also played a role in Rowan having less time of possession, as they only won the midfield battle ten times out of twenty-five. Nearly one-third of Rowan’s wins in draw controls came from senior attackman Elise Cohan, who won a team-high three.
Despite the loss, Rowan’s second half was much better than their first. Midway through the second quarter, junior goalkeeper Mel Rogers took over in net and gave her defense a spark of energy.
She only allowed two goals in the second half, made six saves on the day, and finished with a .545 save percentage on the day. Salisbury only got off six shots on goal in the second half. With her performance, it seems pretty clear that Rowan has a good one-two punch at the goalkeeper position with Rogers and senior starter Reilly Shaup.
While it has not been a perfect start to the year, Rowan will have plenty of time to figure things out. Optimism is still high in their locker room, as the senior attackman Ashley Lechliter set the tone at the start of the year for her team’s expectations.
“We just want to win,” Lechliter said. “If I had to say anything [to my teammates], it would just be ‘let’s do it.’ We are on a new field, it’s a new season, and we have new goals.”
Rowan will not play on their new field at the Rowan Soccer & Lacrosse Complex again until Wednesday, March 9, when they take on Washington (MD) College. However, they will first have an away match this Saturday, March 5 against Stevens University.
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