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Clarkson women's lacrosse comes up short at Skidmore, 13-11

Posted 4/21/18

Saratoga Springs, NY – The only place where the Clarkson University Women's Lacrosse team didn't beat Skidmore College was on the scoreboard, as a standout performance from Caroline Kenlon denied …

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Clarkson women's lacrosse comes up short at Skidmore, 13-11

Posted

Saratoga Springs, NY – The only place where the Clarkson University Women's Lacrosse team didn't beat Skidmore College was on the scoreboard, as a standout performance from Caroline Kenlon denied the Golden Knights 13-11 in Liberty League action Friday afternoon.

The Golden Knights fell to 10-5 overall and saw their conference record evened at 4-4, while Skidmore moved to 10-5 overall and 6-2 in league games. Clarkson looks to get back on track on Saturday when it faces Union College.

Kenlon made big saves throughout the game, but denied 16 of 27 shots on goal to stagger the Clarkson offense despite a 34-26 edge in shots overall. Clarkson also led in groundballs (24-18), caused turnovers (15-8) and forced Skidmore into 20 miscues while making only 11 on its end. The Knights went 18-for-19 on clears while the Thoroughbreds struggled at 15-for-24.

Junior Jaid Baytos opened the scoring in the first minute with a free-position goal, but after that tally Kenlon was up to the task in the Skidmore crease, denying the next seven free-position shots on a variety of angles and shot slots. Despite being unable to solve Kenlon on the open attempts, the Golden Knights and Thoroughbreds were even for the first 16 minutes of the game at 3-3. It wasn't until Amanda Orvis scored at the 14:09 mark in quick transition after the draw, when Baytos was knocked to the ground and out of the play near midfield, that Skidmore began a run. The Thoroughbreds scored back-to-back goals just 16 seconds apart in that 16th minute, and then both Marisa Caponi and Lilla Seymour scored on free-position shots to give Skidmore a 6-3 lead, causing Clarkson to call for a timeout. The short break worked for the Knights as they won the ensuing draw and Baytos ended Clarkson's cold streak on FPS attempts when she scored at the 7:24 mark.

Clarkson possessed the ball for a significant portion of the half, causing seven turnovers and limiting Skidmore to just nine clears in 16 tries, but Kenlon's performance in the first half, which included 11 saves, was enough to have the Thoroughbreds up at the break.

The Knights pulled to within one after consecutive goals from Lexi Smith and Emma Andrews in the first three minutes of the half, but Clarkson went cold for the next eight minutes while Skidmore regained and even added to its previous advantage with three straight scores to make it 10-6. In the middle of the second half, Clarkson picked up two man-up goals to again get within striking distance. However Cas Szwajkowski scored three times in a stretch of six minutes, one man-down, one even-strength, and one man-up to push Skidmore's lead to 13-9. Though Baytos struck with 6:39 to go and Katie Sergeant converted on a free-position attempt with 3:17 remaining, Clarkson couldn't get another shot off in the final three minutes and ended up on the short end of a big game for both teams.

Baytos finished with five points on four goals and one assist and she also added in four draw controls for the Knights. Katie Sergeant scored three times and Lexi Smith found the net twice for Clarkson. Abby Collins also chipped in four groundballs, four caused turnovers and four draws. Samantha Gladd made seven stops in net for the Knights before being relieved for Carolynn Pechmann, who made two saves.

For Skidmore, Kenlon finished with 16 saves, with many coming on free-position attempts. Cas Szwajkowski scored five times, but her biggest contribution might have been the nine draw controls she earned to help Skidmore gain possession. Amanda Orvis scored four points on three goals and an assist and Marisa Caponi scored three times. Amanda Cagnassola led the defense with three caused turnovers and three groundballs.