YORK, PA-The York College women’s lacrosse team battled hard but just fell short as the St. Mary’s College Seahawks left Kinsley Field with an 11-9 Capital Athletic Conference victory on Saturday afternoon in York. The Seahawks improve to 5-4 overall and 2-1 in the CAC while the Spartans fall to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the conference.
    St. Mary’s came out flying as they scored the first three goals of the game. Lauren Carrier scored on a free position shot at the 28:25 mark and then scored again on a goal with 27:22 remaining in the half. Emily Norris, who assisted on Carrier’s second goal, put home one of her own to stake the visitors to the early lead.
    York responded with six straight goals as the Spartans seized control of the game’s momentum. Six different Spartans scored in the stretch that covered exactly 14 minutes of game time. Elizabeth Northfield answered for the Seahawks as she notched two critical goals for St. Mary’s in the final 1:58 of the second half as the York lead was trimmed to 6-5 at the break.
    The Seahawks carried the momentum of that late first half spurt into the start of the second half St. Mary’s scored the first four goals of the stanza to take the 9-6 lead. The green and white received a goal from Alison Napolitano (Annapolis, MD/Annapolis Area Christian) off a pass from Brianna Yapps (Joppa, MD/Fallston) with 20:29 remaining in regulation, cutting into the St. Mary’s lead. Yapps then tallied the next two goals to pull York even at nine. St. Mary’s took the momentum right back as Allie Zerhusen scored the eventual game winning goal on a free position shot with 8:19 remaining. Carrier added a critical insurance goal on another free position shot with 7:34 remaining and the Seahawks were able to maintain the majority of the possession over the final six minutes to salt away the win.
    Seahawk goalie Melissa Puzak was outstanding for the guests as she recorded 14 saves. She held the Spartans to 2-of-8 in free position shots as the green and white continue to struggle with the free looks this year. Sophomore goalie Anne Fuestle (Baltimore, MD/Catonsville) was solid as she had seven saves in the loss.
    Norris led the Seahawks with five points on three goals and two assists. Carrier chipped in with three goals, four ground balls, and two draw controls for St. Mary’s. Danielle Miller added three points on a goal and two assists while Northfield had two goals and four draw controls.
    The Spartans were paced by Yapps as she had four points on three goals and one assist. Yapps also notched seven ground balls and two draw controls. Senior Jaclyn Girsh (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) and Napolitano each had two points for the game. Napolitano had a pair of goals while Girsh had a goal and an assist. Girsh also had five ground balls and two draw controls.
    The Seahawks outshot the Spartans 30-26 while they also had a 36-32 edge in ground balls. The Spartans held a 12-10 margin in draw controls for the game while the Spartans committed just 15 turnovers for the match. St. Mary’s had 22 miscues in the contest. St. Mary’s held a significant advantage in free position shots as they were 5-for-9 while York was just 2-for-8.
    The green and white return to action on Monday as they host Catholic in a CAC contest. Game time is set for 4:00 pm at Kinsley Field.