(Grand Rapids, MI) – The Concordia Women's Lacrosse team was back on the road Wednesday night, this time on the west side of Michigan to take on the Calvin Knights. After a back and forth first half of action, the Cardinals eventually settled in, outscoring the Knights 9-3 in the final two quarters on the way to a 16-11 victory.
Isabella Komarowski led the CUAA offense with 4 goals, while Cassandra Allard picked up 4 assists. Greyson Papp had a team high 11 shots. On the defensive side, Rachel Costello recorded 9 ground balls, while Madisyn Fox and Madalyn Fields each caused 3 turnovers.
Rachel Costello started in goal for Concordia, making 11 saves in the win. The Cardinals got off to a fast start, picking up a trio of goals from Greyson Papp, Nicole Bordo, and Cassandra Allard within the first 7 minutes of action to take a quick 3-0 lead. Allard picked up a pair of assists on the opening goals and Papp added a helper, herself. Calvin responded with authority, however, scoring 6 unanswered goals in the opening quarter and held a three-goal lead after the first frame.
The second quarter started very similarly to the first for Concordia, as the Cardinals would strike first at the 12:01 mark a Cassandra Allard goal while down a man. Isabella Komarowski and Greyson Papp also tacked on goals of their own within the next 82 seconds to tie the game at 6. Following a Knights goal, Nicole Bordo got her second goal of the game off an assist from Greyson Papp with 10:09 to go in the second frame. After over 7 minutes of scoreless action, Calvin would strike for one more tally in the half and hold an 8-7 lead going into the break.
The Knights picked up another goal less than a minute into the second half, but Concordia controlled the third quarter from then on. Isabella Komarowski recorded three straight goals in a span of 3:05 for the Cardinals to flip the score and give CUAA their first lead since early in the opening period. Later in the frame, the Cardinals got on the advantage and converted twice, once from Madisyn Fox and Cassandra Allard, each. After the Knights broke up the 5-goal streak for Concordia with a score of their own, Greyson Papp converted off an assist from Cassandra Allard for her third goal of the game while down a player to give CUAA a 13-10 lead heading into the final quarter. Costello, Bordo, Komarowski, and Allard all picked up assists in the 6-goal quarter for the Cardinals.
Concordia struck quickly once again in the fourth, as Madisyn Fox picked up a goal off an assist by Papp (her 3rd of the contest) less than 2 minutes into the quarter. After a quick Calvin answer, the Cardinals took back control the flow of the game, eventually leading to Nicole Bordo picking up a goal for the 4th Cardinal hat trick of the contest, with Allard picking up her 4th assist of the game. After nearly 7 more minutes of scoreless lacrosse, Taylor Nesbitt went through a stream of Calvin defenders and scored with 1:48 to go in the final quarter to secure a 16-11 win for Concordia.
The Cardinals will be back in action in a week and a half on Saturday, March 19th at 1pm for their first WHAC matchup of the year against Rochester. Game time is set for 1pm at Ferry Field.
