Firebirds Women’s Lacrosse Continues to Improve Offensively in Loss to Molloy

WASHINGTON, DC – The University of the District of Columbia women's lacrosse team took a season high 13 shots and scored three goals, but had no answer defensively for the Molloy attack as the Firebirds fell by a final of 22-3 on a beautiful spring Sunday afternoon in the nation's capital.

Midfielders Snezana Blagojevic (Business Management – Kragujevac, Serbia/Shepherd), Amber Walls (Biology – Temple Hills, MD/Surrattsville HS) and Sara Stuart (Psychology – Turlock, CA/San Joaquin Delta College) each tallied one unassisted goal for the Firebirds.

Defensively, UDC caused four Molloy turnovers, including two by senior defender Tara Usko (History – Spring Creek, NV/Feather River College). Also, freshman goalkeeper Dani Falco (English/Elementary Education – Middletown, NY/Valley Central HS) had a season-high 14 saves.

Twelve different Lions players scored for Molloy, including a game-high five goals by midfielder Samantha Arlotta. Attack Ryan Meyer also registered a game-high seven points on three goals and four assists. Caroline Winter earned the victory with four saves and one goal allowed in the first half. She was relieved by Laura Vetter who made three saves and allowed two goals in the second half.

Molloy improved to 7-5 with the win, bouncing back from an 18-4 loss at LIU Post on April 5^th. The Lions won 19 of 26 draw controls, out-shot UDC 45-13 and had a 26-15 advantage in ground balls. Molloy was also 15-of-17 on clear attempts while UDC was 13-of-19, and the Lions had fewer turnovers (16-22).

The Lions pounced early, jumping out to a 6-0 lead thanks in part to a pair of goals by both Arlotta and Meyer. Walls put the Firebirds on the board just before the 22-minute mark with her team-leading 7^th goal of the season. However, Molloy scored six unanswered goals to close out the half and took a commanding 12-1 lead at the break.

Molloy extended its lead to 17-1 by scoring the first five goals of the second half before Blagojevic fired a free-position shot past reserve goalkeeper Laura Vetter for the Firebirds' second goal of the day and her 2^nd of the season. Later, after four more Molloy goals grew the Lions' lead to 21-3, Stuart scored her first career goal on a fast-break play set up by a draw control win by freshman defender Jazmin Lopez (Biology – Pembroke Pines, FL/Charles W. Flanagan HS). Meyer added her final goal of the game with just 34 seconds remaining in regulation to make the final score, 22-3.

The Firebirds (0-7, 0-6 ECC) are on the road for their next three games, beginning with a non-conference tilt at Wilmington (DE) on Tuesday, April 15^th at 4 p.m.