TAMPA, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic women's lacrosse team faced one of their toughest tests of the season, as they hit the road to continue Sunshine State Conference play against No. 5 ranked Tampa. The Sailfish did a good job to hang with the Spartans early but the Tampa side was too strong, defeating the 'Fish 24-10. PBA's record falls to 3-6 overall and 0-2 in SSC play for the season.
The Sailfish conceded the opening two goals of the game early but as they have done for much of the season, PBA played some of their best lacrosse in the opening quarter. Halfway through the opening 15 minutes of play, the Sailfish found themselves in the lead against one of the country's best sides as PBA countered with a 3-0 scoring run.
Olivia Larges,
Rachel Delate, and
Addyson Johnson each found the back of the net during the run to put PBA ahead. The home side had a run of their own ready as they answered with the next five goals to go up 7-3.
Delate scored two more goals in the second quarter to secure yet another first-half hat trick while
Megan Jackson also scored for PBA. Tampa outshot the Sailfish 22-12 in the opening half and 42-22 for the game as they led 15-6 at the half.
Georgia Karns and
Courtney Rausch both saw time in the cage for the 'Fish as it was Karns who saw the majority of the time after making the start, surrendering 16 goals while making five saves. Rausch conceded eight goals, making five saves in just over 20 minutes of play.
Bella Marchiano scored the only goal in the third for the Sailfish as the home side reached the running clock margin of ten goals.
Tampa saw the majority of the ball after winning 25-of-26 draw controls for the game. Johnson scored in the final quarter for PBA while two freshmen
Mia VanAlstyne and
Annika Limpert scored as they saw minutes late in this one. Jackson led PBA in caused turnovers, forcing two and tying Delate and Limpert with two ground balls.
PBA has a week off from games before hitting the road again for an SSC game against Florida Tech. The two sides met in PBA's first game of the season with the Panthers winning 20-10. Florida Tech entered the day with a 6-3 record on the season.