Gorajek's Five Goals Power Army to Win Over Niagara

Thursday, February 24

4 PM

Army West Point

2-2

Niagara

1-2

NIAGARA

ARMY

Photo by: Army Athletics

Gorajek's Five Goals Power Army to Win Over Niagara

February 24, 2022 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Phil Tor

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Army West Point women's lacrosse captures it's second victory in as many games over the Niagara Purple Eagles on Thursday night in the team's first game inside Michie Stadium. Julia Gorajek's game-high five goals powered the Black Knights to a 15-9 result, evening their record to 2-2 on the young 2022 campaign.

Kathleen Sullivan chipped in with four goals and three assists in the contest and Jolie Riedell added three goals of her own to help lift Army to the victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Julia Gorajek got the scoring started for the Cadets early in the first quarter, striking first with a goal three minutes into the contest. After Niagara evened the score, Kathleen Sullivan and Jolie Riedell added respective goals to give Army a 3-1 advantage. Starting goalkeeper, Lacey Bartholomay made a three saves in the first quarter as Army held a 5-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. Gorajek and Carleigh Armstrong added the goals at the end of the period to supplement the Army lead.

Gorajek got her hat-trick goal at the start of the second quarter to increase the lead to 6-3. Another Bartholomay save led to another Army goal, this time by Caroline Raymond. Two more Bartholomay saves kept the Purple Eagles at bay and allowed Army to break out for another pair of goals by Riedell and Sullivan. Army boosted its advantage to 9-5 to close out the half.

Niagara was able to string together two back-to-back goals, but the Purple Eagle rally was cut short by Sidney Wiegand, who caused a turnover in the defensive end and quickly got the ball up the field to Gorajek, who put another shot in the back of the net to reclaim a three-goal lead for her team. Armstrong, Sullivan and Riedell also scored in the third period as Army steadily built a 13-9 lead as time expired in the third quarter. Taylor Miller entered at goalkeeper in the third quarter to make two saves in her second appearance of the season.

Alli Ingraham made a great play to open up the fourth quarter, causing a turnover that was picked up by senior captain Brooke Allen. Army advanced the ball up the field and into the stick of Raymond who buried a shot in the back of the net to make it 14-9, Army. Gorajek scored the final goal for the Black Knights to make it 15-9 late in the period. Allen did not allow a single shot to make it past her, recording four saves and grabbing three ground balls in the fourth quarter to keep Niagara off the board. At the end of regulation, Army would walk off the field with a 15-9 win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Army had the advantage in shots (30-27) and shots on goal (24-21) in the game
The Cadet goalkeepers combined to make 12 saves in the contest
Army claimed 15 draw wins compared to Niagara's 12
The team was 13-for-17 on clear attempts in the win
Kathleen Sullivan's seven points were a game-high and tied a career high
Sullivan was alos 3-for-3 on free position shots
Gorajek led the team with five goals scored
Caroline Raymond scored a pair of goals and is now tied with Gorajek for the team lead with nine goals this season
Raymond led the team with 11 draw controls, with help from lead draw specialist, Julia Franzoni
Riedell chipped in with three goals and now has seven in her past two games
Carleigh Armstrong scored twice in the contest, increasing her season total to seven goals
Lacey Bartholomay earned the win in net, saving six shots
Brooke Allen locked Niagara down in the fourth quarter, allowing no goals and saving four shots
Malina Hatton was solid on defense, causing two turnovers

COACH TUMOLO REACTS
"We got the job done tonight against a gritty and relentless Niagara team. It wasn't the most beautiful game and there is still areas of the game that we can improve on but we stuck together to get the win on Michie," said Tumolo. "Brooke Allen was a spark in the fourth quarter by not allowing a single goal. Big offensive performances by Julia Gorajek and Kathleen Sullivan kept us dangerous on the offensive side of the ball. Lastly, Caroline Raymond dominated in the circle. We have a quick turnaround to play Marist on Saturday which is another chance to improve as a team."

CADET QUOTES

Julia Gorajek (5g, 1a) and Kathleen Sullivan (3g, 4a) talk about the effort from our team today

????#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/8tNWpFaOPF
— Army W.Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_WLax) February 25, 2022

UP NEXT
Army will turn the page quickly to prepare for a Saturday afternoon clash with the Marist Red Foxes. The contest is slated to begin at 4 PM in Pughkeepsie, N.Y.