PHILADELPHIA – Trailing 3-10 late in the first half, the HFU women's lacrosse team rallied all the way back to within 13-14, but the Tigers could not tie the game in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Tournament First Round matchup at Georgian Court on Sunday.
Gwen Varley (East Earl, Pa./Garden Spot) got the rally started by assisting
Payton Pugh (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Hubert Catholic) and
Rianna Shields (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock South) in the final 4:30 of the second quarter, before the Tigers scored four of the first five goals of the second half - two of which were by Pugh - to cut the deficit to 9-11 with 3:55 left in the third quarter.
The Lions pushed the lead back to 10-14 with just 8:21 to go, but
Abby Perkins (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy), Varley and
Lexi Ryan (Bensalem, Pa./Bensalem), all freshmen, found the net 4:09 apart make it a one-goal game for the first time since the first quarter with 1:22 on the clock.
Holy Family won the ensuing draw control but could get not get a shot off.
Individual Highlights
- Playing in her final career game, Shields led all players with a career-best five draw controls and two assists and added team-highs of four goals and four ground balls
- Also playing in their final career games, Pugh netted a career-best four goals and matched Perkins with a game-high two caused turnovers, while Tori Wolstenholme (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Hubert Catholic) tied Shields with four ground balls
- Wolstenholme added a goal to finish 10th in program history with 110 for her career
- Varley had four points on two goals and two assists, while Ryan was second on the Tigers with four draw controls
- Renee Althoff (Lancaster, Pa./Solanco) made five saves in net
Inside the Box Score
- Holy Family outshot GCU 31-26, including 16-9 on net, and the Tigers also held advantages in ground balls (24-19) and draw controls (15-14)
How it Happened
- Georgian Court led throughout after scoring the first two goals, despite Shields cutting the deficit to one twice, at 1-2 and then 3-4, in the first quarter
- The Lions would respond with six unanswered over the end of the first and beginning of the second though, establishing a 3-10 lead with 6:08 left in the first half