Women’s Lacrosse Secures Second Seed; Will Rematch Washington College in Playoffs
Kerry McKeever earned her second career Player of the Week honor
By Brody Tennant, Staff Writer
Over the weekend, No. 2 Gettysburg College Women’s Lacrosse team had a tough matchup against Washington College, coming back from three goals behind early in the first half to win 16-13. They outscored Washington 6-1 to finish out the first half.
With this victory in the final regular season game, Gettysburg clinched the number two seed for the Centennial Conference Tournament, while Washington clinched the three seed. Franklin & Marshall College, going undefeated in conference play, secured the top seed and will host the championship. Dickinson College and Swarthmore College took the remaining spots.
Sophomore Kerry McKeever led the team with five goals, three assists and six draw controls. Junior Courtney Patterson and sophomore Bri Stokes each had three goals, with Patterson also accumulating seven draw controls, two ground balls, and two caused turnovers. Senior Steph Colson tallied three ground balls and caused two turnovers, and junior Claire Macatee gathered three draw controls, two ground controls, and caused a turnover. Senior Bailey Pilder added some critical saves, finishing with eleven total.
The Bullets got off to a hot start, scoring two goals in the first two minutes. Patterson won the initial draw, then 62 seconds into the game, Stokes scored off a pass from junior Liza Barr. Then, 49 seconds later, junior Ella Orzechowski scored off a pass from McKeever. Washington scored five straight goals, outscoring the Bullets 6-1 to take a 6-3 lead. Gettysburg responded by outscoring Washington 8-2 to end the half up 9-8.
The Bullets never lost the lead in the second half. Washington was able to keep it close, bringing the score to 14-13 with under five minutes left to play, however, Washington could not stop McKeever, who scored the final goals to end the game 16-13.
In the final four minutes, the Gettysburg defense was relentless, allowing only one shot on goal which was blocked by Pilder.
For the fourth straight week, the team was ranked number two overall by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Division III Coaches’ Poll. The top 14 teams remained unchanged from the previous week.
Due to her outstanding performances, McKeever was named Centennial Conference Women’s Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week after scoring fifteen points and ten draw controls in two victories for the Bullets. This is her second career weekly honor from the league.
This season, McKeever leads Gettysburg with 48 goals and ranks second in assists with 23, points with 71, and draw controls with 66.
The Bullets will open their postseason run with a rematch against Washington College in the Centennial Conference this Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at Franklin & Marshall.
