SALISBURY, N.C. - - Gianna Pezzulo scored four goals as part of a five-point day to lead Catawba to a 12-9 non-conference women's lacrosse victory over UVa-Wise at Shuford Stadium Sunday. The loss by the Cavaliers snaps what was a three-game winning streak to begin the season.
Catawba (3-2) scored early as Kristyn Krouse and Katie Barth each scored in the game's opening four minutes. The early goals allowed the Indians to take a lead they would not relinquish.
UVa-Wise (3-1) countered with goals by juniors Rachel Cole and Hannah Marshall sandwiched around Pezzulo's first goal of the day to make it a 3-2 contest with 21:21 to play in the opening half.
The schools would trade goals for the next 17 minutes as Brooke Applebaum ran the Indians' lead back to two when she scored unassisted at the 13:53 mark. Nearly six minutes later, Marshall countered Applebaum's man-up goal with one of her own to make it a 4-3 game with just over eight minutes left in the half.
Barth's second goal of the half was followed by sophomore Kristin Gobbi's seventh goal of the season to make it a 5-4 Catawba lead with 4:02 showing on the clock.
The Indians would take control of the game over the next 10 minutes of game play as Pezzulo scored unassisted for the final goal of the first half before teammates Nicole Hunt and Kruse scored the opening two goals of the second stanza to allow Catawba to take an 8-4 lead.
Facing its largest deficit of the day, freshman Jesse French got the Cavs back within three when she scored off a Cole assist at the 20:54 mark.
Pezzulo's third goal of the game came almost three minutes later to make it a 9-5 game.
Frecnch answered again, this time with an unassisted goal and Cole followed with her second goal of the day to make it a 9-7 contest with just over 15 minutes left.
Back-to-back goals by the Indians' Nicole Hunt and Applebaum pushed the lead back to four with just under 10 minutes to play.
Marshall would get the game back within three when she found the back of the net at the 8:02 mark.
From there, the action stalled as only four shots were attempted over the next five minutes of play. Following a yellow card on Catawba's Nicolette Salay, UVa-Wise got within two when Ashley Wells scored with just over three minutes showing on the clock.
Pezzulo put the finishing touches on the win as she scored on a free position attempt with 1:38 to play to seal the 12-9 victory.
The two teams played fairly even in most statistical categories. UVa-Wise outshot Catawba 30-28, with the Indians holding an edge in shots on goal (30-28). Mel Reilly collected 11 saves in goal for the Cavs while Madison Anselmo had 12 saves for the Indians.
Marshall led UVa-Wise with three goals while Cole finished with three points as part of her two-goal performance. Jessica Apgar registered a team-high four groundballs while McKayla Grasham led the Cavs with three caused turnovers.
The Cavs are back in action Tuesday when they take on Newberry College for their third consecutive road game. First draw is set for 2 p.m. from Newberry, S.C.
