Army Falls in Tight Battle with Mercer

Sunday, March 12

Macon, GA

1 PM

Army West Point

4-3

Mercer

5-1

Army

Mercer

Army Falls in Tight Battle with Mercer

March 12, 2017 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

ATLANTA, Ga. – The Army West Point women's lacrosse team fell to Mercer, 14-13, Sunday afternoon. The Black Knights rallied with a 5-0 run in the second half, but the Bears bounced back to score five of the next six goal to clinch the victory.

"On the offensive end we stayed to the game plan and had great looks," said Noto Family head women's lacrosse coach Kristen Skiera. "The offense had been struggling in the last few games so they did a great job picking their shots and finishing. Manuela did a great job on attack and in the midfield for us today. Emma and Taylor marked up on their best player and did a really great job keeping her to just two points.

"Kayla came in off the bench and made a ton of saves for us and had a crucial caused turnover as well. I was really proud of her effort. As a team, we struggled on the clears and on some of the key draw controls. There was a lack of execution in the final minutes, and as we shift our focus, we will work on putting everything together offensively, defensively and between the 30s."

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Manuela Cortes scored a career-high six goals in today's game to lead the Army offense.
It was the second straight game that Amy Johnston recorded a hat trick. Rachel Hornick and Samantha Stewart were also in on the scoring action with two goals and one assist each.
Erin Jollota also picked up a helper in the effort.
The Black Knights held a 16-12 advantage on draw controls with Johnston leading both sides with six draw controls. Stewart picked up five, while Kiersten Spencer had two.
Stewart also helped on the defensive side of the ball with four caused turnovers and three ground balls.
Kayla Rowley stepped in big for the Black Knights off the bench and made 10 saves and picked up two ground balls.

"I think it was really important to push the ball in today's game and to not let up," said Cortes. "The defense focused on getting the ball up the field the offensive zone today because we were having success. In practice we really worked on moving the ball on attack and made some adjustments since we were more successful in our isolation plays rather than our looks in the middle."

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Black Knights were first on the board when Hornick netted a free position shot 1:15 into the game.
Mercer scored next to tie things up at 1-1, but Cortes scored Army's next three goals in a four minute span to keep the Cadets up. The Bears netted a goal in the stretch to bring the score to 4-2.
Mercer tied the game after two consecutive goals, but Jollota found Stewart in front with 14:51 on the clock to take a 5-4 lead. Hornick netted her second of the game four minutes later before Mercer went on a 3-0 run to close-out the half with a 7-6 advantage.
Cortes kicked things off in the second half, but two quick goals from the Bears kept them up 9-7.
Army then went on a 5-0 run which was fueled by two goals scored in 16 seconds.
Stewart scored an unassisted goal before setting up the following play for Johnston. Cortes and Johnston alternated with two goals each in the stretch to put the Black Knights ahead 12-9.
The Bears responded with a 4-0 run of their own to take the lead. Johnston scored off an 8-meter to tie the game 13-all with 2:39 to go, but just over a minute later Mercer netted the go-ahead goal to clinch the win.
Army won the following draw control, but a turnover prevented the Black Knights from getting a shot off to tie the game in the end.

TURNING POINT