No. 10 Catholic Gets Past Seahawks
St. Mary's City, Md. - Midfielders Kate Robinson (Emmitsburg, Md./Catoctin) and Caroline Taltavull (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) combined for 11 points (9g, 2a) in leading No. 10 Catholic University to a 17-10 non-conference victory over St. Mary's College of Maryland Wednesday afternoon.
Robinson notched a game-high five goals and dished out two assists while Taltavull finished with four goals in the Cardinals' (1-0) season-opening win. Junior attacker Katie Buonpastore (Lansdale, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) added five points on two goals and three assists.
Taltavull and Robinson gave CUA an early 2-0 lead at 26:41. The contest went into a lull for an 11:19-minute span as neither team was able to make their shots count and the two sides combined for 10 turnovers. St. Mary's (0-2) put an end to the scoring drought first with three unanswered goals to claim its first lead of the game at 9:20 as senior attacker Kelsey Branch (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) assisted on all three. Catholic scored three of the final four goals to head into halftime with a 6-4 advantage.
Branch finished the contest with a game-high four assists while first-year midfielder Erin Shackelford (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) tallied her first collegiate hat trick and added one assist.
The two teams traded goals at the start of the second half before Catholic notched five of the next six goals, including three straight, to boast a six-goal (12-6) bulge at 17:38. Junior Lindsay Davenport (Delran, N.J./Delran) converted on a free-position shot, giving the Cardinals its biggest lead of 15-7 at 10:09. Three of the game's final five goals came from the Seahawks, including two from junior attacker Maggie Macleay (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's Ryken).
Catholic outshot the Seahawks, 43-20, while St. Mary's edged the visitors in ground balls, 24-23, as junior goalkeeper Jamie Roberts (Rockville, Md./Barrie) scooped up a career-best six loose balls. The Cardinals also claimed a 17-12 advantage in draw controls as junior midfielder Kelly Ryan (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) won a game-high six draw controls.
CUA senior Melissa Brashear (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic) finished with eight saves while Roberts picked up 11 stops in the Seahawk loss.
St. Mary's will return to action this Saturday, March 6 when the Seahawks travel to Westminster, Md. to take on McDaniel College in non-conference play at 1:00 pm.
