Women’s lacrosse: Comets fall to Puget Sound, 17-9

GEORGETOWN, Texas – A 6-0 scoring run by University of Puget Sound (Wash.) in the middle of the first half proved to be too much for the Olivet College women's lacrosse team to overcome, as the Loggers defeated the Comets, 17-9m today at Varsity Field in Georgetown, Texas.

Senior Geri Merrell handed Olivet an early 2-0 lead with a pair of goals in the first minute and 27 seconds of the game. After Puget Sound scored, junior Devin Blue netted a goal off a pass from Merrell two minutes later. The Loggers tied the game at 3-3 with a pair of goals in span of exactly one minute.

Senior Taylor Guarnaccia put the Comets ahead 4-3 with a free-position goal at the 21:43 mark of the first half. Puget Sound then went on its aforementioned 6-0 run to take a commanding 9-4 lead. Merrell scored her third goal of the half off a Guarnaccia feed to make the score 9-5 at halftime.

The Loggers netted five of the first six goals of the second half to go up 14-6 with 12:47 left in the contest. The two teams split the final six goals of the game, with Guarnaccia scoring twice and senior Mackenzie Inman scoring once for Olivet.

Guarnaccia and Merrell each had five points to lead the Comets. Guarnaccia scored three goals and assisted on two others, while Merrell had four goals and one assist. Blue and Inman netted one goal each, while Inman and junior Jessica Doster had one assist apiece. In goal, sophomore Xavier Vance allowed 15 goals and made eight saves in 50 minutes and 18 seconds of playing time. Junior Hailey Bond completed the game in goal, yielding two goals and collecting three saves.

The Comets play Southwestern (Texas) University tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. EST.

NOTES: The loss snapped a program-best four-game win streak for Olivet. As a team, the Comets have 14 assists this season, and need only four to break the single-season record. Olivet had 17 assists in 2012. Guarnaccia is two goals shy of reaching the 100 career goal plateau.