Box Score Greencastle, Ind. – The Depauw University Tigers held off a relentless Transylvania women's lacrosse team, staving off the Pioneers to win 16-15 on Friday evening at Reavis Stadium.
Depauw worked its way to an early three-goal lead that would bend but not break as the Pioneers sliced the Tiger lead to one goal multiple times throughout the evening, including a run of four straight Transy goals in a 51-second span with under three minutes to go in the game. The Tigers extinguished the clock in the end to move to 2-2 on the season while the Pioneers dropped to 2-4 overall.
Salem Carlow posted a season-high five goals, including the first three goals of the night to steady the Pioneers in their nightlong pursuit of the Tigers. Courtney Pontious had her season-opening string of five straight hat-tricks snapped but offered a balanced line of two goals, two assists, two draw controls, and one ground ball. Carlow led the Pioneers with eight draw controls and provided three ground balls to go with one caused turnover.
Depauw carved out a 3-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game before Carlow responded with the first score of the night for the Pioneers. Depauw tacked on two more goals for a 5-1 lead but Carlow led a shift in possession towards the Pioneers as the senior registered an early hat-trick, cutting the deficit to 6-3 with 6:27 left in the first half.
Carlow's third goal spurred a run of three straight scores as RJ Johnston and Ysa Leon joined in on the scoring to cut the Depauw lead to 6-5 by halftime.
Depauw regained momentum to begin the second half, scoring four of the first six goals in the second half to go on top, 10-7 with 16:54 left in the period. The Tigers scored an own goal to assist the Pioneer comeback before scoring twice more for a four-goal buffer with 10:52 to go in regulation.
Lindy Walker scored the first of two consecutive man-up goals for the Pioneers and Pontious followed with a score as the Pioneers cut Depauw's lead to 12-10 with under eight minutes to go.
The Tigers then countered with three goals over the next five minutes to seemingly put the game out of reach by taking a 15-10 advantage.
Carlow ignited the comeback rally for the Pioneers with her fifth goal with 2:53 left in the game. It would be the first of four consecutive scores for the Pioneers over a furious 51-second stretch. Johnston rifled the ball into the net with 2:02 left to suddenly whittle Depauw's lead back to one-goal at 15-14.
The Tigers stopped the bleeding with their 16th goal of the night 20 seconds after Johnston's dramatic stunner, lengthening their lead back to two goals with 1:42 to go.
After the Tigers were called for a yellow card late in the match, Abbey Peterson scored a man-up goal for the Pioneers with 44 seconds remaining, once again slicing the lead down to a goal. But Depauw secured the draw and successfully doused what little remained of the match, securing the win.
Johnston followed Carlow with a hat-trick performance while Walker finished with two goals, two ground balls, and a draw control. Leon and Claire Duck each tallied two caused turnovers apiece. Abi Waldron picked up the loss in goal for the Pioneers and provided nine saves on the night.
After wrapping up a four-game slate away from home, the Pioneers return to Lexington on Sunday, March 21 for a stretch of four home matches in their next five, beginning with a nonconference showdown against the Wittenberg University Tigers. Opening draw is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. from Pat Deacon Stadium.
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