With under three minutes left in the first half on Tuesday night, the women's lacrosse team (6-8, 2-4) was already beating Manhattan College (7-6, 2-4) by nine. But Macie Winship '11 wasn't done just yet. After an unselfish pass from Ali Holland '08, Winship secured the last goal of the game, beating Bruno's previous record of the greatest offensive output this season (17) and earning her first career goal. The Bears came out of the match with a secure 18-8 win.
Brown began the game against a new opponent, Manhattan, whom they had never played before, with a goal just 31 seconds into play off a free-position shot from Lauren Vitkus '09. A one-timer from Kara Kelly '10 off a Mimi De Tolla '08 pass put the Bears up, 2-0, about a minute later.
"I think what we have come to realize all season is that you have to go into every game not expecting anything," Vitkus said. "We knew that if we came in strong offensively and defensively that we could gain the momentum."
And the Bears did just that. Although Brown outplayed the Jaspers in virtually every aspect of the game, embracing a 38-18 advantage in shots, a 24-16 advantage in ground balls and a 20-8 advantage in draw controls, the Bears kept going for the net.
"They're very scrappy and aggressive," Kelly said. "So we knew that they could come back at any point ... We weren't overconfident."
After Vitkus' second goal of the game 1:57 into play, Krystina DeLuca '09 scored unassisted at 4:23, putting the Bears up 4-0. Brown hit about everything that it shot at this point, and the announcer even jokingly called Bruno an "ungracious host."
"We attacked this team like any other," DeLuca said. "We knew that nothing is a guarantee."
But the last 10 minutes of the half were a slightly different story. At 23:22, the Jaspers weren't ready to lay down and roll over just yet, and they scored their first goal of the game. Although this would only put them within eight at 9-1, the Bears' play begin to falter as the half neared.
"We started to play down to their level a bit," DeLuca said. Head Coach Keely McDonald added that the team let up a little defensively.
Manhattan continued its run and within five minutes increased its score to four. But a goal from Holland stopped the rally with 20 seconds left in the half and the Bears posted a solid 10-4 lead at the break.
"That (playing down to their level) was talked about at half time. The second half was much more consistent," DeLuca said.
The Bears jumped into the second half much like the first. Jesse Nunn '09 struck first off a free-position shot, earning her second goal of the game 2:02 into the half. Although Brown started scoring relatively early, by that time in the first half, the team had already grossed three goals.
But two minutes later, the Bears proved that they weren't finished with the Jaspers. A spin move around her defender freed up Vitkus for a pass to Nunn, who put one in on the left side of the net for her third goal of the night. This put Bruno up 12-4 at 34:14.
Brown's offense was patient and precise for the remainder of the game. The Bears never intended to stop scoring, but instead aimed to work on their play.
"We were really looking for assisted goals," Kelly said. "Just pass the ball, no one-versus one-drives, make connections with our teammates and move the ball on attack."
Mirroring the first half, the Jaspers scored all their goals of the second half in the last seven minutes, managing four more goals, while Bruno put in an extra six before the final whistle. Although the Bears' letdown at the end of the first half led to a late onset of Jasper goals, McDonald attributed this sequence of delayed scoring to "just the flow of the game."
Nine different Brown players scored goals in Tuesday's contest, including four from Vitkus and Nunn - marking their 27th and 26th goals of the season, respectively - and two goals apiece from Holland and DeLuca, as well as goals from Justine Lupo '08, Kelly Robinson '09, Kelly, Kiki Manners '10 and Winship. Goalkeepers Melissa King '08 and Maggie Suprey '11 contributed to the win with three saves each.
The Bears will host Princeton this Saturday at 1 p.m. in their last Ivy League match and second-to-last game of the season.
