The Thomas More College women’s lacrosse team fell to across-the-river rival Mount St. Joseph University, 9-8, in an Ohio River Lacrosse Conference (ORLC) match at BB&T Field in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
With the loss, the Saints fall to 3-8 overall and 2-5 in the ORLC and with the win, the Lions improve to 3-7 overall and 3-2 in the ORLC.
Thomas More took an early 2-0 lead as senior Tori Liles (Tollesboro, Ky./Lewis County) scored at 29:25 and senior Christy Smith (Washington Courthouse, Ohio/Washington) scored at 24:57. MSJ cut the lead to 2-1 at 22:35 and the Saints answered with goals by Liles at 20:40 and sophomore Jalee Connor (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seton) at 16:14 to increase the lead to 4-1. Liles scored two more goals at 10:47 and 6:31, but the Lions had three more goals in the opening half to and the Saints led 6-4 at halftime.
MSJ opened the second half with a goal at 29:29, but Liles answered with a goal at 25:09 to extend the lead to 7-5. Two goals by MSJ tied the match at 7-7 with 17:14 to play in regulation. Liles scored her sixth goal of the match at 8:34 in the second half to give the Saints an 8-7 advantage. Mount St. Joseph tied the match with a goal at 7:45. The Lions scored the eventual game-winning goal with 39-second to play in the match.
Sophomore Gillian Casey (Lexington, Ky./Lexington Catholic) suffered the loss in goal as she played all 60 minutes and had nine saves. Thomas More out-shot the Lions 27-23, including 21-18 on-goal and had a 14-10 advantage in ground balls.
Liles led the team in scoring with six points on a game-high-tying nine shots. Sophomore Jeni Hall (Lebanon, Ky./Marion County) also had nine shots, while senior Erika LaRosa (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seton) led the team in draw controls with four. Liles and LaRosa led the team in ground balls with three each.
Thomas More returns to action on April 24 when it hosts Transylvania University at 4 p.m. at BB&T Field.
Cory Blackson
Director of Athletic Communications and Compliance
Thomas More College
