Lacrosse

An early five-goal deficit and sloppy play hurt No. 5 Northwestern on Sunday, as it fell to No. 9 Stony Brook 11-9.

In an uncharacteristically messy start to the match in Stony Brook, New York, the Wildcats (9-4, 2-1 Big Ten) were unable to maintain possession of the ball.

NU turned the ball over on each of its first three possessions and the Seawolves (13-1) capitalized on each opportunity. Stony Brook jumped out to a 3-0 lead just over eight minutes into the first half.

Although the Cats dominated in the draw circle, they could not keep the ball in their sticks. Another pair of turnovers allowed Stony Brook to notch back-to-back goals, bringing its lead to 5-0 midway through the half.

As the Cats began to wake up in the first half, the game became more even. Freshman Selena Lasota finally put NU on the board with a bullet of a shot from the 8-meter with nine minutes to play. Just over a minute later, Lasota wrapped around the crease and slid the ball past the keeper to cut the Cats’ deficit to 3.

Junior Christina Esposito added another goal off a free position shot and the team headed to halftime with Stony Brook leading 5-3.

After competitive play throughout the second half, the Cats found themselves down 10-5 with under eight minutes left. In a furious comeback attempt, NU scored an astounding 3 goals in 29 seconds.

Junior Kaleigh Craig added the first goal of the 3-0 run and Lasota tallied the next 2.

Despite the decided shift in momentum, NU was unable to fully claw its way back. The teams traded a pair of goals in the last minutes of the contest and Stony Brook went on to win 11-9.

Lasota led the Cats with 4 goals, bringing her season total to 48. On the defensive end, senior Haydyn Anigian led NU with four caused turnovers and three ground balls.

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Twitter: @clairechansen