BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's lacrosse team saw a six-goal lead dwindle to one with less than four minutes remaining before two saves by sophomore Courtney Heist in the final 40 seconds preserved an 18-17 victory over visiting FDU-Florham in non-conference action on John Makuvek Field Monday.
The Greyhounds, now 10-4 overall as the program reached the 10-win plateau for the second straight spring, had six goal scorers in the match led by sophomore midfielder Meaghan McMullan, who had six goals and three assists to go with one draw control. Junior attack Liz Bill contributed three goals, four assists, nine draw controls, two ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers while sophomore attack Danielle Sullivan had three goals and an assist. Freshman midfielder Lindsey Strohl added three goals, five ground balls and four draw controls while senior attack Jillian Picciuto had two goals, an assist, six draw controls and two ground balls and freshman attack Kelsey Moore had one goal.
Heist came in relief and had her two saves in just over four minutes of action while senior goalie Kelley Gavin made nine saves and scooped up four ground balls in 56 minutes of action. Sophomore defender Olivia Clearie contribute four ground balls, three draw controls and three caused turnovers while freshman defender Meghan Moore had three ground balls and senior defender Melissa Webber scooped up two ground balls.
Stohl needed just 16 seconds to give Moravian a quick 1-0 lead, and when Sullivan scored at the 23:52 mark, the Blue and Grey were leading 4-0. The Devils answered with three straight goals to cut it to a 4-3 match. Neither team scored more than two straight goals the rest of the half with a tally from FDU-Florham in the final 30 seconds second the squads to the intermission with the Greyhounds leading, 8-7.
The Devils tallied first in the second half to knot the score while back-to-back goals from McMullan had Moravian leading 11-9 with 20:24 to play. Up 12-11, the Greyhounds netted five straight goals including one from Strohl and two each from McMullan and Bill with Bill's final marker pushing the Hounds' edge to 17-11 with 12:28 showing on the clock. FDU-Florham scored twice before Picciuto hit the Blue and Grey's final goal on an eight-meter shot with 8:15 to go.
FDU-Florham scored four straight goals to make it an 18-17 match with 3:13 remaining with the finals goal being the first shot Heist saw as it just trickled between her legs after an initial stop. With under a minute to go, the Devils earned an eight-meter shot that Heist stopped, and after a turnover, Heist got back in front of what was a wide-open net to make another save with 20 seconds remaining.
Moravian played the game to honor the life of coach Mike Schambach, a loving collegiate coach, husband, and father. Schambach began his career in Bridgewater, N.J. being a well-versed athlete in multiple sports, but it was his lacrosse talents that got him to play for Rutgers University's Division I program. After his collegiate career, he then transitioned into his coaching role, leading schools such as Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU), DeSales University, and Montclair State University until May of this past year. Schambach was a well-known coach, but was more highly regarded for his ability to leave lasting impressions on everyone he came into contact with. In honor of Schambach's legacy and family, 100% of the proceeds through his GoFundMe campaign will support the Schambach family. His GoFund me account can be found at: https://www.gofundme.com/in-memory-of-mike-schambach
The Greyhounds are scheduled to return to action on Friday, April 19 when the squad hosts Drew University in a Landmark Conference contest beginning at 4:30 p.m. on John Makuvek Field.
