Harford Women’s Lacrosse Wraps Up Regular Season with 12-8 Win Over Essex

From the HCC sports desk:

BEL AIR, Md.—The Harford women’s lacrosse team closed out the 2009 season with a 12-8 win over CCBC-Essex last week at Harford Stadium. The Knights (0-10, 0-8 MDJUCO) kept the Fighting Owls (3-9, 2-6 MDJUCO) close and came within one, 9-8, with six minutes remaining in the second half, but three straight Harford goals to end the game would cement the 12-8 victory for the Owls.

Sophomore Melissa Warczynski (Street, Md./North Harford) tied a season-high with six goals on the day and also added two assists for eight total points, while freshman keeper Brittany MacKnew (Abingdon, Md./Bel Air) corralled a season-high 23 shots in the cage.

Kelly Lekas led Essex in the loss with four goals, while Lindsay Scarpulla made 10 saves in the 60:00.

The Owls controlled the first half of play, outscoring the Knights, 5-1 within the first 25 minutes on goals from freshman Cortney Chen (Havre de Grace, Md./Havre de Grace), sophomore Anna Pollitt (Aberdeen, Md./Havre de Grace), two by Warczynski and one from freshman Nichole Terry (Havre de Grace, Md./Harford Tech).

The last two minutes saw Essex cut the lead in half, however, as Lekas and Amanda Hillenbrand combined for two goals within 19 seconds of one another at the 1:21 and 1:09 marks to bring a 5-3 deficit into the half.

Harford would open up the scoring in the second period with an unassisted tally from Warczynski just 22 seconds into the start, but Lekas would answer two minutes later to keep the Owl advantage at two, 6-4.

A yellow card on Terry at the 25:21 mark would give Essex an extra-man advantage, but neither team would see a substantial possession until sophomore Quortnee Long (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) forced a Knight turnover at the 23:43 mark.

After a successful Harford clear, Warczynski would fire a shot, which rebounded off Scarpulla before Chen picked up the ground ball to keep the possession alive, which would eventually lead to Warczynski’s man-down goal at the 22:46 mark to give Harford a 7-4 lead.

The Knights would squander a free position attempt during its next possession and Melissa Ortiz would draw a yellow card a few seconds following the attempt to give Harford a man-up opportunity, which saw Warczynski feed freshman Nicole Miller (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen) with 20:31 left to give Harford an 8-4 lead.

One free position shot for each team at the 18:25 and 13:57 marks would keep the Harford lead at four, but three straight Essex goals, including two by Lekas would make it a one-goal game, 9-8, with 5:59 remaining.

Essex would not help its cause as Kennetha Cooper was served with a yellow card at the 5:15 mark and freshman Denise Hidan (Abingdon, Md./Harford Tech) would tack on an extra-man goal at the 3:40 mark as she controlled a rebound from Warczynski’s shot and directed the ball, in mid-air, past the Essex keeper to give the Owls a two-goal lead, 10-8.

That lead would become a three-score advantage with 2:06 left as Terry connected for an unassisted tally and Warczynski would control the ensuing draw and streak down the field, scoring on a give-and-go with Pollitt on the way to the 12-8 win.

Lacrosse Game Summary (Final)
The Automated ScoreBook For Lacrosse
CCBC-Essex vs Harford (Apr 27, 2009 at Bel Air, Md.)

CCBC-Essex vs. Harford
Date: Apr 27, 2009 Location: Bel Air, Md. Stadium: Harford Stadium
Attendance: Start time:4:30 pm End time: Total time:

SCORE BY PERIOD 1 2 Tot
——————————-
CCBC-Essex………. 3 5 – 8
Harford…………. 5 7 – 12

CCBC-Essex SCORING: GOALS: Lekas, Kelly 4; Smith, Alesia 1; Ortiz,
Melissa 1; Hillenbrand, Amanda 1; Cooper, Kennetha 1.
ASSISTS: Wilson, Sarah 2; Huff, Julianne 1; Wiser, Sara 1.

Harford SCORING: GOALS: Warczynski, Melissa 6; Terry, Nichole 2;
Pollitt, Anna 1; Chen, Cortney 1; Miller, Nicole 1; Hidan, Denise 1.
ASSISTS: Pollitt, Anna 2; Warczynski, Melissa 2; Chen, Cortney 1.

CCBC-Essex GROUND BALLS: Lekas, Kelly 13; Dannenman, Diana 8; Ortiz,
Melissa 4; Wiser, Sara 4; Dalanon, Mary Anne 3; Huff, Julianne 3;
Cooper, Kennetha 2; Smith, Alesia 2; Hillenbrand, Amanda 1; Wilkinson,
Wendy 1.

Harford GROUND BALLS: Warczynski, Melissa 6; Long, Quortnee 4;
Pollitt, Anna 4; Kiniry, Morgan 3; Chen, Cortney 2; Hidan, Denise 2;
Fox, Marie 1; MacKnew, Brittany 1; Terry, Nichole 1.

CCBC-Essex TURNOVERS CAUSED: Lekas, Kelly 2; Ortiz, Melissa 2; Wiser,
Sara 2; Dannenman, Diana 1; Wilkinson, Wendy 1; Wilson, Sarah 1.
Harford TURNOVERS CAUSED: Long, Quortnee 3; Battle, Ebony 2; Chen,
Cortney 1; Hidan, Denise 1; Kiniry, Morgan 1; Miller, Nicole 1; Terry,
Nichole 1.

SHOTS – CCBC-Essex 47; Harford 23.
SHOTS ON GOAL – CCBC-Essex 31; Harford 22.

PENALTIES – CCBC-Essex 0/0:00; Harford 0/0:00.
MAN-UP OPPORTUNITIES – CCBC-Essex 0-0; Harford 2-0.

TURNOVERS – CCBC-Essex 17; Harford 23.

FACEOFFS – CCBC-Essex 0-0; Harford 0-0.

CLEARS – CCBC-Essex 11-15; Harford 16-24.

GOALIES – CCBC-ESX: Scarpulla, Lindsay (60:00 minutes, 22 shots-10
saves, 12 GA); HCC: MacKnew, Brittany (60:00, 31-23, 8).

Start time: 4:30 pm Finish time: Length of game:
Officials:. Scorer: Tim Conway.