The Oswego State women`s lacrosse team took its first loss of the 2014 campaign 9-7 at Rochester Institute of Technology on Friday evening. Oswego`s loss drops the team record to 1-1 while RIT moves to 1-0 in its season opener.
In the first half, Oswego hopped on the board first with a goal from Esther Gabriel. Gabriel's goal was assisted by Erannan Shattuck, each earning their first points of three-point outings.
RIT answered the challenge less than a minute later as Nicole Bingo scored on a free-position shot at 26:37. This started a trend in the opening period, as Gabriel and Bingo would trade goals again before heading to halftime.
Gabriel notched her second goal of the contest at 18:17 on a pass from Lindsey Eggers. The Lakers would hold that lead for just under the next 13 minutes until Bingo registered her second goal to knot the game at 2-2. Oswego and RIT played the final 5:20 of the first half in scoreless fashion, going to the locker rooms locked at two goals apiece.
The scoring flowed a little more freely in the next half, as the Tigers took their first lead of the game with two goals in the first seven minutes. Their lead would not last long, however, as the Lakers brought the game back to a stalemate with two goals over the next four minutes. Shattuck sent home a free-position score at 23:05 before Emily Lange found the back of the net off Gabriel's assist to tie the game at 4-4 with 19:53 remaining.
RIT would look like it had gained control of the game for good with three-straight goals over a 2:32 span, but the Lakers would not fade away. Shattuck again sparked the comeback, taking advantage of a man-up situation to bring Oswego to within two at 7-5. Shattuck's third points of the night came from an Grace Rinaldi assist.
Kelsey Henderson then took the game into her own hands, scoring the Lakers next two goals at 6:42 and 4:14 to bring the game even at 7-7 down the stretch. The Tigers scored the game-winner with 1:20 left to play and Bingo added an insurance goal with just 11 seconds to play to secure the victory.
Nikki Greco took a loss in net for the Lakers, saving nine RIT shot attempts over the 60 minutes.
Oswego will return to action at 1 p.m. on Saturday as it travels to Morrisville State to take on the Mustangs.
