Women's Collegiate Lacrosse Associates

The regular season came to a close this past weekend for the Lady Tigers after a road trip to take on division foes TCU & Texas State. The fate of LSU’s post-season hopes hung in the balance of the games’ outcomes.

First up was TCU on Saturday at Texas A&M’s Penberthy Turf Fields. The Lady Tigers got out to a quick start going up 3-0 on the Lady Horned Frogs. From that point on, the game got tight & drama stretched throughout the rest of the game as TCU tied the game at 3-3.

Draw controls were a battle for LSU’s Alaena Gadwill (Owings, MD), who has dominated at the circle in the Tigers’ previous three games. The purple & gold scrapped to win only six draw controls in the first half. With the possessions that LSU held on to in the 1st half they netted nine goals on 14 shots. Taylor Reeves (Boston, MA) continued her leading goal scoring ways with four goals in the 1st half on five shots along with one of the team’s draw controls & another ground ball. Reese Gassie (Leonardtown, MD) followed suit with three goals of her own on four shots, one assist, two ground balls, and two caused turnovers all in the 1st half. Texas native Erin Esh (Allen, TX) got in on the fun with one goal along with Gadwill’s one goal, one ground ball, and three draw controls in the opening frame. Madison Murray (Shreveport, LA) notched two assists for the Tigers’  in the 1st half while Maria Chavez (Colorado Springs, CO) added a draw control of her own. Sabrina Benoit (Lake Arthur, LA) added two clutch ground balls that turned into quality possessions for the Tigers offense. While TCU countered goals throughout the 1st 30 minutes, the score was tied 9-9 going into the half with Kaci Rogers (Winnfield, LA) tallying seven saves on 16 shots in cage for LSU.

The LSU coaching staff made a few adjustments during the break in an attempt to curb the draw controls & successful possession statistics in an effort to win the game. Again, the purple & gold came out hot notching quick goals over TCU. But those Frogs came hopping back. Reeves sustained her scoring dominance by notching another four goals in the 2nd half, followed by Gadwill netting another two along with an assist & six draw controls, Esh & Gassie burying one goal each, & Sydney Mulroy (Ellicott City, MD) got in on the fun with a score of her own. Gassie scooped up the remaining draw control of the game for the Lady Tigers. As the game wound down to the final two minutes LSU held an 18-15 lead. TCU continued to fight & brought the game to within one goal with less than 30 seconds to play. LSU won the final draw control of the game & held possession to allow the clock to wind down & seal the victory. Rogers landed five saves in the 2nd half on 13 shots. Her 12 total saves on 29 shots tallied to a 41% save mark.

With the victory, the Tigers have qualified for their 3rd straight TWLL conference tournament appearance in their 3 years of competition within the WCLA.

On Sunday morning, the Lady Tigers traveled to San Marcos, TX to take on Texas State University who were celebrating their Senior Day. The draw control woes continued & worsened for the purple & gold as they earned six in the 1st half and only two in the 2nd half. Gadwill, Gassie, & Reeves rotated to take draws throughout the game in hopes to garner an advantage however the ball continuously found its way into the sticks of the Lady Bobcats. Reeves added to her season & weekend scoring tally with four goals in the game, three ground balls, & two of the draw controls. Gassie followed her again with three goals, one ground ball, & one draw control. Gadwill notched one goal, one ground ball, & two draw controls on the day. Esh rounded out the LSU scoring with one goal & one ground ball of her own in the first half. Mulroy & Chavez took a shot on goal each but their efforts were saved by TSU’s goalie who notched 12 saves on the 21 total shots on goal by LSU. Chavez along with Benoit added a draw control & ground ball each in the contest. Deja Lowe (Rockville, MD) & Mulroy scooped up three ground balls of their own, while Tameka Gongs (Washington D.C.) marked one with Lauren Fontenot (Youngsville, LA). The Tigers never had a lead in the game & simply did not have an answer for the Bobcats at the draw circle. Rogers stood strong between the pipes savings nine shots on the total of 19 taken by the Bobcats good enough for 47% on the day. Her five game save percentage on the season totals to .482. TSU emerged victorious on the day by a final score of 12-9 ruining LSU’s perfect season.

For the 2015 regular season the Tigers end up with a record of 4-1, 2-1 with total scoring of 76 goals & allowing just 44. The TWLL season wraps up this coming weekend & LSU will have to wait out the results to determine their conference tournament seeding. The TWLL Conference Tournament takes place on April 18th in Austin, TX at the University of Texas.