Rowan lacrosse defeated Kean University 18-5 last Saturday in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) matchup, bringing their overall record for the season to 2-5. Senior captain Ashley Lechliter had a career high of seven goals while seniors Dara Hennessy and Julia Grlica; juniors Julianna Corson, Shannen Sterner and Elise Cohan; and sophomore Jamie Cutrera also scored for the win.
Even though the Profs have a record of 2-5, coach Lindsay Delaney is proud of the consistency on the field; the team works together well no matter what the outcome will be.
“The thing about our attacking unit that no one has talked about but is insane is our assist-to-goal ratio,” Delaney said. “We’re at a 50% assist-to-goal ratio. We might not be scoring a ton of goals, but the goals that we are scoring are from a team aspect, not at one person driving in and looking to shoot.”
From an outside perspective, Delaney sees how the offense and defense play in sync with one another and use their skills to elevate team performance.
“What I mean by that is that it is a multi-dimensional attack, it’s not just a heavy driving attack,” Delaney said. “You have to be able to drive and pass with pressure and finish. That’s high-level offense, and we’re not getting recognized for that because we’re 2-5, but there’s nothing wrong with that.”
The Profs previously played against Kean University on March 20, winning 18-6 — a score almost identical to the match on April 17, and the energy among the team was still going strong.
“I think they were cohesive,” Delaney said. “It was the first game we’ve had where you could see our defensive end transition into our midfield, all the way through to our attacking end, where we kind of bridged the gap that we’ve been talking about so much and played unified, so I always think it’s really nice when everyone’s involved.”
“From the bench, the excitement on the sidelines filtered into the field, which then connected the two sets of units,” she said.
With only two NJAC games left, the team will face off against Stockton University on April 20. Rowan competed against Stockton on March 30, with Stockton taking the win 9-14. This match will be the determining factor for where the Profs stand in the conference.
“In the NJAC right now, we’re sitting with the most control because we’ll dictate what happens going forward,” Delaney said. “If we win [Tuesday], which is huge, we need to win [Tuesday] to solidify a good seed in the NJAC. Everyone makes NJAC this year, which is unusual. We like to end first or second every year, but some years we’ve landed in third.”
“This year, we could end third, we could end fifth, we could end first,” Delaney said. “It could be a three-way tie for first if we win out this weekend. So, who knows, we just need to come in and take care of today and see where the chips fall.”
Attacker Cutrera scored two goals in the first period, with assists from midfielders Grlica and Sterner. For Cutrera, playing this season after losing the last was refreshing.
“It felt good, we’ve all been waiting for it for over a year, and it was just a long time coming,” Cutrera said.
By helping advance the Profs to the win last Saturday, Cutrera knew just how important it was to deliver her best game.
“I feel like we really needed that win to turn our season around because it’s NJAC, so it really matters now, so we had to get that win,” Cutrera said. “It was really important for me to give it my all for my teammates.”
Cutrera hopes to end the season on a high note with her teammates and live in the moment every game.
“Last year we saw what things can do, so just take it day by day because you never know what can happen and be present in the moment and not think too far ahead,” Cutrera said.
Rowan defeated Stockton 24-8 on Tuesday, bringing their record to 3-5 as they head into their last game of the season against Montclair University this Saturday.
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