HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata women's lacrosse team dominated the second half on their way to an 18-10 win over visiting Marywood on a wet and rainy Saturday afternoon at Gibbel Stadium.
Two minutes in, Skyler Stevens circled around the back of the goal, found Kyndall Yeager cutting toward the net, and fired into the top left corner. Peyton Goodrich scooped up the draw control, ran down the field, and flipped it ahead to Kelliann Drummond, who gave it back to Goodrich in the heart of the defense. She fired the ball into the bottom of the goal. A minute later, Stevens bounced a shot past the keeper to make it 3-0.
The Pacers scored three goals in the next few minutes to tie things at three. Shannon Para scored to nudge JC ahead, but Marywood equalized on a free position shot as the teams were locked at four after one.
Two minutes into the second quarter, as the Pacers tried to clear, Tess Ledeboer intercepted an errant pass, outran the defense, and beat the keeper to give JC the lead back. Goodrich added a second on a free position shot. Marywood scored three goals in three minutes as the Eagles trailed 7-6. Stevens helped the offense get going as she found Devyn Mauger and Grace Gibbs for two goals inside one minute. In the final 30 seconds, Yeager rolled off a Goodrich pick, tossed it to her, and Goodrich fired the ball into the net as Juniata led by two at the half, 9-7.
Goodrich scored with Juniata a woman up in the first 40 seconds of the second half, but the Pacers scored twice in three minutes to get within one. Gibbs scored on a free position, Yeager scored three straight, and Goodrich added her second of the quarter as the Eagles led by four.
Juniata, leading by seven in the final 30 seconds of the game, added an exclamation point as Gwen DeLeva found Para, who deflected the ball past the keeper.
Goodrich had five goals, an assist, and eight draw controls, while Yeager had four goals, an assist, two ground balls, a draw control, and a caused turnover. Stevens had a goal, four assists, and two ground balls, while Ledeboer had a goal, eight ground balls, and six caused turnovers. Mikayla Bodley came in and got the win for the Eagles in goal, she made three saves.
The Eagles will take on Vassar on Monday at noon.
