Women's Lacrosse Falls at Villanova, 11-4

(box score)

4/17/07-- The Long Island women’s lacrosse team fell to Villanova, 11-4, on Tuesday night at Villanova Stadium. The Blackbirds took an early lead in the game, but a run of eight-straight goals helped the Wildcats seize control of the game and take the victory.

Long Island (5-10, 3-4 NEC) fell behind 1-0 just over three minutes into the game, but tied the score on a bizarre play. The Wildcats picked up a ground ball and in the process of attempting to clear the defensive zone an errant pass back to the goalie rolled into an unprotected net. The goal was credited to LIU junior Sam Fischbeck (Baltimore, Md.).

After Villanova (6-6) took the lead back, LIU responded with two more goals to take a slim lead. Trailing 2-1, sophomore Allison Funk (Lumberton, N.J.) tied the score for the Blackbirds on a free position shot at the 14:05 mark. Long Island took the lead five minutes later when freshman Christie Wienckowski (Newtown Square, Pa.) fired home a low shot on an unassisted effort to put LIU ahead, 3-2.

The Wildcats came back with two straight goals from Erica Rybinski, her second and third of the night, to build a 4-3 lead going into halftime. Villanova continued its offensive outburst, by tallying the first six goals of the second half to build a 10-3 lead after Christina Bahrs’ goal at the 14:07 point.

LIU snapped its scoring drought when senior Amy Rizzo (Jackson, N.J.) took a feed from freshman Katt Oswaks (Westlake Village, Calif.) to make it 10-4. The Wildcats added a goal a minute later to round out the scoring.

Four different players scored for LIU, while Rybinski finished the day with four goals and Shannon Sullivan added three goals and two assists for VU.

The Blackbirds return to action on Thursday, April 19, when they take to the road to face Binghamton at 4:00 p.m.