Scots Topple Preseason Favorite OWU in 10-9 Thriller

Emily Baab

Opening conference action with a road trip to the league’s preseason favorite team could be a daunting task for any squad, but The College of Wooster women’s lacrosse team faced the challenge head-on Wednesday evening at a cool and rainy Delaware, Ohio, and emerged the victors, edging Ohio Wesleyan University in a narrow 10-9 contest.

The Fighting Scots (4-3, 1-0 NCAC), now the winners of three-straight, jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, thanks to consecutive goals by Hillary Darragh and Carly Carey within the first four minutes of action.

The hosts, who were voted the No. 1 team in the North Coast Athletic Conference’s preseason poll, responded a little over a minute later when Lura Allen converted a free position attempt for a score, and the Battling Bishops (6-2, 3-1 NCAC) were able to slide another shot past Scot 'keeper Jamie Dannenberg just 22 seconds later to knot the game 2-2 with 24:50 left to play in the first period.

The Scots found themselves back on top at the 21:11 mark when Emily Baab found an open Taryn Higgins, who rattled the back of the net for a score to give Wooster a 4-3 advantage.

OWU then went on a 3-0 run through the next 10 minutes of action, holding Wooster scoreless and taking a 6-4 lead, until Baab netted a goal on a helper from Lauren DeZellar with 5:41 on the clock to bring the game back within one.

The Scots tied the game nearly two minutes later when Cassie Brown found the back of the net, but the Bishops would put another tally on the board with 14 seconds left before the half, to give OWU a slim one-goal lead.

The second period began with the two squads trading free position goals, before Wooster broke loose for four unanswered scores, including two Baab net-finders, to take the biggest lead of the game, 10-7, with 2:21 left to play.

The Bishops would not go down without a fight, however, as they were able to register two more goals, but with only 14 seconds remaining to play, could not muster another score as the Scots prevailed in the 60 minute slugfest.

The teams were neck-and-neck the entire game, with Wooster outshooting OWU by just one (28-27), while turning the ball over only one less time (20-21).

Leading the Scots was Baab, who turned in her third three-goal outing of the season while adding an assist. Carey and Brown each tallied two goals, while Darragh, Higgins and Annie Steward all accounted for the other Wooster scores.

Julia Fouts and Polly Burke had two goals a piece to lead the way for the Bishops.

Defensively, Dannenberg made 10 saves in the net for Wooster, while OWU goalkeeper Maggie Eichenlaub turned away 13 Scots’ shots in the losing effort.

Wooster will be back on the field on Saturday, when it will host NCAC foe Wittenberg University in a 2 p.m. contest at Carl Dale Field.