Lacrosse Earns Comeback Victory over Winthrop, 17-15 on the Road

ROCK HILL, S.C. – After trailing by three goals midway through the second half, the Old Dominion lacrosse team (2-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) scored six of the game's final seven goals to earn a 17-15 victory over Winthrop (0-1, 0-0 Big South) on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Eagles scored four goals in under four and a half minutes in the second half to jump out to a 14-11 lead with 15:56 remaining in the game. The Monarchs were tasked to erase a three-goal deficit for the second time in the match, and they started chipping away at the Winthrop lead with just under 11 minutes left on the clock, Senior Michelle Hallman got the comeback started with her second goal of the game, assisted by classmate Glory Johnson, with just 10:49 left to play.  
 
Just over two minutes later, freshman Katie McGrain netted the first goal of her collegiate career while the Eagles had an extra-player advantage to cut the ODU deficit to just one tally. Winthrop's McKenna Blick brought the buffer back to two goals at the 6:11 mark, scoring her third goal of the game and putting 15 on the board for the Eagles.

Blick's goal would be the final one scored for Winthrop as the Monarchs stormed back to score four consecutive goals in the final five minutes and 11 seconds of regulation. Johnson started the barrage with her fifth goal of the contest, which was quickly followed by Brooke Stein'ssecond of the game to tie the score at 15 apiece. 
 
With 3:02 remaining on the scoreboard, Lilly Siskind took a pass from Mary Katherine Maloney and scored to put the Monarchs ahead for good. Siskind added an insurance goal less than a minute later, her third of the game, to give the Monarchs the 17-15 win.
 
"We had a slow start today, but we battled for the whole 60 minutes," head coach Heather Holt said after the Monarch comeback. "I am proud of our team for their efforts and taking the win."
 
Johnson led the Monarchs with nine points, scoring five goals and assisting on four others. Stein finished with five points and three assists. Siskind and Claire Porter each had three goals, joining Johnson as the three Monarchs with hat tricks on the day.
 
In goal, freshman Sabrina Leatherwood earned the win with her 11-save effort in the contest.
 
The Eagles scored four of the game's first five goals, jumping out to a quick 4-1 lead after just five minutes of action. ODU then battled back to score five of the next six goals, two coming from Porter and two from Johnson, to take its first lead of the day, 6-5. The two teams continued to exchange goals until the halftime whistle, with the Monarchs taking a 10-9 lead into the locker rooms. 
 
In total, there were three different lead changes throughout the match, and the score was tied eight different times in the back-and-forth affair. 
 
"We need to learn from this game and be ready on Wednesday for William and Mary," Holt said, looking ahead to the Monarchs' next contest which will be on the road against the Tribe on Wednesday, February 19 at 5 p.m.