Radcliffe Laxwomen Lose Heartbreaker, 6-5, Despite Strong Efforts by Johnson, Cochran

The Radcliffe lacrosse team put up a valiant effort, but it all went for naught, as Radcliffe lost a heartbreaker to North-eastern yesterday, 6-5, on a muddy Soldiers Field.

Northeastern jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead after one minute, but Radcliffe refused to get flustered and stayed even with the bigger and faster Huskies.

Radcliffe finally knotted things after 9:33 in the contest. Nancy Cochran carried the ball through the center deep inside N.U. territory. Cochran then made a neat scoop pass to wing Holly Loring, who put on a burst of speed to break in on the N.U. goalie and tie the score.

Northeastern bounced right back, scoring a goal one minute later, followed by another four minutes after that, to take a 3-1 lead.

But with two minutes left in the half, the swivel-hipped Cochran picked up a loose ball just before the midfield stripe. Sifting through the entire N.U. defense she took it in the rest of the way, and Radcliffe walked off at halftime trailing by only one, 3-2.

Second Half Pressure

In the second half, Radcliffe came out strong, swarming all over the N.U. net. The constant pressure was finally too much for N.U. Chloe Gavin bounced one past the N.U. goalie at 3:00 to tie the score, 3-3, with assists going to the dynamic duo of Loring and Cochran.

But the husky Huskies regained the sharp passing game they had in the first half and scored two quick ones at 3:30 and 5:00 to take a 5-3 advantage.

The Radcliffe defense got tough for the remainder of the contest. Lanky defense-woman Gay Smith, who Radcliffe coach Molly Quinby said "played her strongest game of the season," hounded the N.U. forwards. She knocked the ball loose time after time, and flattened one N.U. wing in front of the Radcliffe net.

With the defense holding firm, the 'Cliffe offense got to work. At 18:00, freshman Anne Johnson scored a beautiful goal. Johnson picked up a rebound to the right side of the N.U. goalie, circled behind the net, cut across in front, and then lifted her favorite "shovel" shot past a bewildered Husky netminder.

N.U. Comes Back

Unfortunately, N.U. came right back and scored 20 seconds later to regain a two goal margin.

Radcliffe still refused to die. Johnson scored again with three minutes to go and Radcliffe still had a chance.

N.U. controlled the ensuing draw, and kept the ball in the Radcliffe end. The fleet Cochran made one final length-of-the-field rush with 20 seconds to go but was broken up before she could get a shot off and time ran out.

Quinby had high words of praise for her players: "Our goalie, Anne Sa'Adah was superb and really held us together. Carla Rhodes, Karen Durbin, and Laura Johnson also played strong games."

The loss closed out a 2-4 season for the Radcliffe team.