TicketsCINCINNATI – The Cincinnati women's lacrosse team fell to Liberty, 16-12, on Sunday at Nippert Stadium.
The match was tied 11-11 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Flames outscored the Bearcats 5-1 in the final frame of a back-and-forth match.
"I think we came out really hard and with a game plan in mind. I was a little disappointed in the turnovers we had since it was something we focused on the last week. Liberty is a good team that plays hard. I think we played a solid 30-35 minutes until that second half, and we need to sustain that level of intensity. Dani Mlkvy is a monster on the draws, and we didn't get the ball and saves when we needed it. We just didn't put a complete game together."
Cincinnati was led by sophomore Ava Goeller, who scored four goals and recorded her fifth straight hat trick. Sophomore Elizabeth Murphy and junior Grace Wehland added two goals apiece, while junior Morgan Bates tallied her first career assist.
The Bearcats held a 29-25 edge in shots, but Flames' senior goalie Jennifer Soriero notched 11 saves.
The Bearcats jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first quarter thanks to three early goals from Goeller.
Senior Anna Platou fired a goal with seven seconds left in the first frame to give UC a three-goal advantage.
Liberty came out firing in the second quarter, however as the Flames scored four straight goals to take the lead.
Goeller tied the match up with a free position goal to make it 6-6 with 2:35 left in the first half.
Senior Kylie Nause scored a goal with 24 seconds left in the second quarter after to give Cincinnati the lead (7-6) back heading into the intermission.
Liberty scored two quick goals to open up the second half, but UC answered with a 3-0 run of its own.
After a timely save by freshman goalie Sophie O'Brien, senior Alyssa Adams faked out a defender before firing a dart into the net to put UC in front 11-8 with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Liberty quickly tied the match with three goals to end the third period and the Bearcats and Flames were tied 11-11 heading into the fourth quarter. Cincinnati took a 12-11 lead at the start of the fourth quarter on Wehland's second goal, but Liberty answered right back 10 seconds later and scored four more times while Soriero tallied three more saves to stifle the UC offense.
UP NEXT
The Bearcats return to action with a road trip to Butler in Indianapolis, Ind., on Friday (3 p.m.) before facing Robert Morris on Sunday (12 p.m.) in Moon Township, Penn.
The postgame scoop from Coach Thomas. pic.twitter.com/rKI0rcKBgX
— Cincinnati Lacrosse (@GoBearcatsLAX) March 20, 2022
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