MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Montevallo women's lacrosse picked up its first win of the 2024 campaign after taking down North Greenville, 18-11, on Friday night.
The Falcons drew first blood at the 12:51 mark in the first quarter following an
Ellery Shearer goal assisted by
Mia Black before the Falcons added a second goal from
Mikaela Barbieri off the following draw control. Moments later,
Jenna Piazza lifted the Falcons to a three-goal advantage with 12:15 on the clock with the first free position attempt from either side. NGU answered with a goal at the 10:43 mark before
Claire Withington notched her first goal of the day a minute later. The Crusaders found back-to-back goals before Barbieri found the back of the net for the second time in the first quarter. The two sides went quiet offensively for the next four minutes until NGU cut the Falcons lead to 5-4 with 4:00 to play. Montevallo's
Amber Lynch scored her first goal of the season with an unassisted effort at the 1:27 mark to give the Falcons a 6-4 lead heading to the second.
Withington found the mark in the first minute of the second quarter with an unassisted goal before
Kiley Shea's free position goal lifted Montevallo to an 8-4 advantage. Goalkeeper
Miranda Laird made her first save of the evening before adding a second just three minutes later to keep NGU off the board. With 5:44 to play in the half,
Chloe Norman took advantage of a free position before Barbieri notched her third goal of the night with 5:33 to go. The Falcons found the first man-up goal of the season with Barbieri's fourth goal of the first half. With less than a minute to play, NGU found a free-position goal to cut the Falcons lead down to 11-5 heading into the break.
Shea opened the second half with a man-up goal just 31 second into the third quarter. Freshman
Ashlei Piazza entered the game in goal and notched her first career save with 13:54 on the clock before NGU found the mark on a free position chance. A third Piazza save highlighted a defensive stretch for the Falcons in a near 10-minute scoreless stretch in the game. Shearer's second goal of the day ended the scoring drought with 3:58 on the clock before the Falcon went up 14-6 off a
Mia Black goal just over a minute later. A pair of NGU goals sandwiched a fifth goal from Barbieri to send the game into the fourth with a 15-8 Montevallo lead.
Ally Rich found her first goal of the day in the early going of the fourth quarter to give Montevallo an eight-goal lead off a pass from
Trinity Rose. NGU took advantage of a man-up opportunity to trim Montevallo's lead down to seven with 11:11 to go. Moments later, the Crusaders cut the lead down to 16-10 at the 8:25 mark. NGU added another goal in a comeback effort but Shea closed the door with a goal at the 3:59 mark. Shea punctuated a Falcon win with another goal with just over two minutes to play to give Montevallo an 18-11 win over NGU.
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Montevallo 18 | North Greenville 11
Records: Montevallo 1-1 | North Greenville 1-1
Location: Lacrosse Stadium | Montevallo, Ala.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1ST | The Falcons first quarter saw Montevallo take 13 shots to North Greenville's five with the Falcons taking care of the ball for just four turnovers in the opening 15 minutes. The Falcons took a 6-4 lead into the second.
2ND | Montevallo fired 11 shots in the third with NGU taking just five while the Falcons forced nine turnovers and picked up eight ground balls.
3RD | The Falcons outscored NGU 4-3 in the third with Montevallo firing seven shots. Montevallo finished the third quarter with a 7-6 advantage in ground balls and a 4-for-7 mark on clears.
4TH | Both sides recorded perfect marks in clears with Montevallo going 6-for-6 and NGU going 5-for-5 in the final 15 minutes. For the first time in the game, Montevallo did not outscore NGU in a quarter with both sides notching three goals each.
UP NEXT: The Falcons are set to host No. 7 Rollins on Sunday, Feb. 11 with start time set for 11 a.m.
