For immediate release – 3/26/2016 - #271
Ewers Stands Tall in Net, but WildCats fall to Carthage

LYNCHBURG, VA – Ashton Ewers stopped a career-high 15 shots, but it was not enough as the Randolph College women's lacrosse team fell to Carthage College 16-3 on Saturday.

The Lady Reds went on the offensive early, but Ewers made her first save of the game less than a minute in.  CC retained possession and used a drive by Kendall Santin to score the first of the game.  Following a turnover after a Nicole Dorton draw control, Carthage added to its lead at the 26:53 mark.

However, the WildCats responded right away.  Erin Campbell caused a turnover, and the 'Cats went on the attack.  Dorton made a nice drive and was fouled, setting up the first free position shot of the game.  She succeeded to cut the deficit.

Both defenses took over shortly after the goal.  Seven turnovers were forced by the two teams, with Campbell, Taylor Riccardi, and Maddie Peters doing the work for Randolph.  Ewers made three more saves during this time and her last one started a quick fast break.  Leah Hughes picked up the loose ball and sprinted the field.  Chelsea Marciniak got the ball and drove from the left side, used a spin move, and fired the ball in the back of the cage to tie the score.  Unfortunately, the Lady Reds scored two straight in short order to retake a two-goal advantage.

After the 4-2 score took place, both goalies started to shine as well.  Ewers and her counterpart Maggie Allen went save for save, before Ewers stopped two more.  But Carthage broke through to increase the advantage to three.  The last few minutes saw multiple saves and CTs by both defenses, but the Lady Reds slotted one home with just six seconds remaining to push the score to 6-2 before the half.

CC used that momentum coming out of the half and continued to put pressure on the 'Cats.  Ewers continued to make multiple saves.  Allen's replacement, Taylor Sopron copied the Randolph goalie.  She made several saves.  During this time, Carthage went on a run to boost its lead.

Ewers made her final stop with 30 seconds on the clock, but it started a very quick counter-attack.  Dana Cavallo caught it and worked her way on goal.  She made a nice move and found the back of the net.  But it would not be enough.

Campbell had three caused turnovers and three ground balls in the game.  Riccardi matched her on the defensive end, while also picking up four GBs.  Hughes also picked up four, while Dorton pulled in five draw controls.  Along with the saves, Ewers tied the single-game record of nine ground balls.

Kara Vana, Maddie Griffin, and Santin all tallied four goals for the Lady Reds (4-2 overall).

Randolph (2-6) heads to the road for the first time this month on Wednesday.  The WildCats head to Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) rival Guilford College (3-4, 1-0 ODAC) at 7 p.m.

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