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Lynchburg, Va. – Kennesaw State women's lacrosse dropped a tough game against the Liberty Flames on Saturday, falling 17-4. The loss drops the Owls record to 7-8 on the year and 2-4 in conference play, while Liberty improves to 5-9 and 3-2 in the ASUN.
KEY PLAYERS: Lauren Dobbs continued her historic senior season with three ground balls, three caused turnovers, and two assists.
Aislinn Pendergast,
Brooke Kelly, and
Caleigh Shore all had at least two ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Marleigh Belinfanti led the way offensively with two goals, with
Natalie Charyak and
Lexi Tinker each adding a goal of their own.
THE RUNDOWN: The game started out slow, with both teams struggling to score in the beginning part of the first quarter. Liberty was the first to break through, going on a four-goal run, until the Owls finally got on the board with a goal from Belinfanti, quickly moving into scoring position after KSU won the draw. After the Flames' fifth goal of the day, the Owls struck again, closing out the first with Tinker finding the back of the net to cut the Liberty lead back to three.
The Flames continued to roll in the second, scoring five goals to begin the quarter and extending the lead to 10-2. The Owls answered on the next possession with Belinfanti's second goal to cut the deficit to seven. Liberty capped off the first half with two more goals to enter halftime with a 12-3 lead.
The third quarter provided an aggressive defensive battle with each team only scoring a single goal. The Flames got its goal first, scoring just three minutes into the half. KSU was able to cut the deficit back to single digits off a fantastic sequence, causing a turnover deep in Owl territory. Shore was able to get the ball ahead to Dobbs who flew down the field, finding Charyak open in front of the goal. The fourth quarter saw KSU unable to put anything together offensively, with Liberty scoring four more goals to secure the win, 17-4.
NOTES
- Dobbs recorded a new career-high in assists with two. The senior also recorded her fifth game of the season with at least three ground balls and three caused turnovers, the most such games in a season in program history. Dobbs moved into the top five in career ground balls, now sitting at 111.
- Pendergast caused a season-high three turnovers. The senior also reached new career highs on the season in both ground balls with 18 and caused turnovers with 13.
- Amber Dunlap picked up a career-high three ground balls.
- Roxy Surridge played her first minutes in conference action, closing out each half in goal, picking up three saves in limited action.
NEXT TIME OUT: Kennesaw State heads back to Georgia for the home finale on Thursday, April 16 at 1 p.m. ET against Stetson.
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