The Bloomsburg University Women’s Lacrosse team upset nationally ranked Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PSAC) foe #21 IUP by a score of 11-9 at Steph Pettit Stadium on Saturday, April 21st, but then went on to fall to #18 East Stroudsburg on April 25th 17-5.
The Huskies knew a win was needed on the sunny Saturday afternoon against IUP to stay in the conversation for a PSAC tournament appearance. With only two regular season games left in 2018 after facing IUP, Bloomsburg continues to eye a berth in the PSAC tournament which starts on May 1st.
The Huskies started strong pulling out to a 6-2 lead with 20 minutes remaining in the opening half. Junior attacker Hannah Jaskuta notched her 24th and 25th goals in the opening stretch, along with goals from senior attacker Tracy Rusen, freshman midfielder Megan Smith, sophomore attacker Sydney Collins, and sophomore attacker Cailyn Gormley. The teams then traded goals into the half, giving Bloomsburg a 7-4 lead at the break.
The first seven minutes of the second half involved no scoring until IUP made it 7-5 with 23 minutes remaining in the contest. Gormley then traded two of her own goals with two IUP goals, making it 9-7 in favor of Bloomsburg with 12 minutes remaining. Senior Taylor Turner then came in and scored her 11th of the season to put the Huskies up 10-7. IUP made it 10-8 with seven minutes remaining. After an insurance goal from freshman midfielder Abby Bergman with just under four minutes remaining, the three-goal lead made it too much for the #21 ranked Crimson Hawks as the Huskies walked away with a pivotal 11-9 PSAC victory.
Sophomore goalkeeper Angela DiPasquale recorded a career-high 17 saves in the win, bringing the Huskies and her personal overall record to 10-5.
The Huskies then went on to welcome the reigning PSAC champions, #18 ranked East Stroudsburg to Steph Pettit stadium on a humid and wet April night. The Warriors are one of three teams who have already clinched a spot in the 2018 PSAC tournament.
East Stroudsburg showed their dominance from the opening draw, pulling out to a 4-0 lead in the opening seven minutes. Turner then rifled one home with 22 minutes remaining in the opening half, which was followed by a goal from Jaskuta three minutes later. ESU then rallied to take a 12-4 lead into halftime.
ESU stayed hot in the second half, outscoring the Huskies 5-1 to come away with a 17-5 final score at Steph Pettit Stadium. Redshirt-freshman attacker Grace Kelleher notched the only second half goal for Bloomsburg. DiPasquale stopped a total of 10 shots in the loss.
Kelleher leads the Huskies in points (49) and assists (22), while Rusen leads the team with 34 goals scored. DiPasquale has recorded 164 saves in the 2018 season.
The Huskies play their final regular season game in 2018 on Saturday, Apr. 28th at Gannon University. Opening draw is slated for 12:00pm.
The 2018 PSAC tournament opening round games start on May 1st.
