By Justin Paley
Pride women’s lacrosse freshman goalie Maisie Osteen has been spectacular this season. Entering Sunday’s game against the No. 15 ranked University of Delaware Blue Hens, Osteen was 8-0 and had established herself as the starting goalie.
But against the Blue Hens, Osteen struggled as the Pride trailed 6-1 a little over 20 minutes into the game.
Pride women’s lacrosse coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe, recognizing a change was needed, replaced Osteen with senior Lisa Papa and the Pride rallied to defeat Delaware, 11-9.
With their sixth straight victory, the Pride improve to 10-1 overall and 3-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
Early on, it was all Delaware, taking a 4-0 lead a little over 11 minutes into the game. Sophomore attack Kim Hillier finally got the Pride on the board finding the back of the net for her 18th goal of the season with 16:40 left in the first half.
The Blue Hens added two more goals to lead 6-1. With 9:01 left in the first half, Papa replaced Osteen in net for the Pride.
“I don’t think you can place all the blame on one person,” Klaes-Bawcombe said. “Defensively there was a lot of holes. Delaware’s ball movement was a little much for us in the beginning of the game. We felt at that point we needed a spark defensively off the bench. We felt Lisa (Papa) was the person for the job and asked her and she said she was ready.”
The goalie switch sparked the Pride as it closed out the first half on a 4-0 run and went into the locker room trailing 6-5. During the run, junior midfielder Becky Thorn scored a pair of goals while sophomore midfielder Casey McGrath added a goal and an assist.
The Pride carried the momentum into the second half as Thorn fed Hillier tying the game at six, only 29 seconds into the second half.
The Blue Hens scored two of the next three goals retaking the lead at 8-7 with 24:20 left in the game.
The Pride went on a 3-0 run over the next 15 minutes on goals by Caitlin Connolly, senior midfielder Mary Romano, and senior midfielder Tara Buecker.
Casey McCrudden pulled the Blue Hens within one goal at 10-9 with a little over two minutes left but Buecker added an insurance goal with just one second left as the Pride escaped with the victory.
The Pride out hustled the Blue Hens, winning the ground ball battle, 16-14. Senior defender Bridget Eder and Danielle Skakandi each picked up a game-high three ground balls while Eder and junior defender Jaime Irving tied for game-high honors with three caused turnovers.
The Pride has stifled opponent’s offenses all season long. “We use an aggressive style to cause turnovers,” Klaes-Bawcombe said about the Pride’s defensive play. “They are capable of making big plays and get ground balls. It’s a well-rounded situation where we are able to put ourselves in a situation where if our attack is flat, we can do this through our defensive game. It’s important heading into the duration of our CAA schedule.”
Papa allowed three goals while making three saves and picked up the win. Klaes-Bawcombe talked about the goalie situation.
“There’s power in numbers. Right now we have two solid goalies and we will be able to utilize them the rest of the season,” Klaes-Bawcombe said.
Klaes-Bawcombe gave the reasons for the Pride’s success this season. “We’re setting ourselves apart from the country with our defense, our speed, and our balance on attack,” Klaes-Bawcombe said. “We’ve been able to keep raw talent we’ve brought into the University and make them great lacrosse players. We are not really relying on one player. It is a total team effort every time we step onto the field and that’s why we’re coming up with the consistent wins.”