Conference tournament hopes fade away as lacrosse falls to Mercer
After taking a three-goal lead over Mercer into halftime, the Central Michigan lacrosse team was outscored 8-1 in the second half.
The Chippewas slipped to 1-5 in the Atlantic Sun Conference and 5-9 overall. The 11-7 loss to the Bears (7-9, 4-3 A-Sun) eliminated CMU's chances of advancing to the conference tournament.
CMU is tied for seventh place with Stetson in the league standings. The top six teams advance to the conference tournament May 5-8 at Kennesaw State.
“That definitely stings knowing we will be unable to go to the tournament,” said Head Coach Sara Tisdale. “Our players are very disappointed. That was a goal for the season and it was a realistic goal that we set.”
Midfielders Summer Abdalla and Logan Halvorson scored the first two goals of the game, followed by a goal from Mercer's Kelly Hagerty at 15:37. The Chippewas held on to their lead with another goal by Abdalla and a goal each from Anna Schoonover, Auguste Jepsen and Natalie Bloniarz.
“We struggled trying to possess the ball and slow it down in the second half,” Abdalla said. “Mercer did a good job with slowing our fast break and we just never got the ball around to execute the plays we wanted to.”
Pasadena, California freshman Clare Laughery played the entire game in net, allowing 11 goals and recording seven saves. It was Laughery’s first game starting in goal.
“I knew I had to go out there and give it all I had,” she said. “It was an exciting opportunity for me and I feel like I did a good job staying composed and confident. Our whole defense came together as a unit and everyone worked hard on every part of the field today.”
Tisdale said Laughery earned the opportunity to start because of her preparation.
“The saves she made were the ones we needed, and the goals Mercer got were quality goals.” Tisdale said. “The score doesn’t reflect Clare’s efforts today. We’re very proud of her and she had a great game.”
The Chippewas will return home to play Howard at 6 p.m. Friday at the CMU Soccer/Lacrosse Complex. Next Sunday, they finish off the regular season at home at noon against Old Dominion.
