The Eastern University women's lacrosse team returned to the NCAA tournament for the third straight year. The Eagles picked up a tough draw in #7 Union College for the first round. The host Dutchwomen jumped to a 3-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes of play and held on for a 15-4 win. Jessie Basch scored twice and registered a pair of assists in the loss.
Union jumped to a 1-0 lead on a goal from Steph Egizi in the first minute. Seconds later, the Eagles looked to try to level the score on a free position shot from Grace Griffith, but Union goalie Cat Ruggiero made the first of her 13 saves on the day to hold the Eastern attack at bay. Union scored immediately in transition to take control of the game. Coach Azzarano pointed to the efforts of the Union goalie after the game. She is very talented, we put pressure on her, but she came up with the saves."
The Eagles finally broke into the scoring column with a nineteenth minute goal from Erin Reimel. Basch set up the goal with a nice pass from the left side of the cage. Basch set up Erin Fries moments later to cut the Union lead to 8-2, but the Eagles would not get any closer as the hosts scored consecutive goals in the final thirty seconds to take a 10-2 lead into the break.
Basch scored a pair of goals in the second half, but Eastern was unable to close the gap further. Kim Campbell made 10 saves for the Eagles, who finish the year at 14-5.
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