GREENVILLE, Pa. – April 6, 2021 – The Chatham women's lacrosse team took part in another thriller, this time overcoming an early hole to turn away the hosting Thiel Tomcats 14-12. The Cougars are now 4-1 after the win, and 2-0 in conference play.
 
The aforementioned early hole the Cougars faced was a 4-0 deficit at the 18-minute mark. Chatham went on to score six of the next seven goals to quickly get right back into the game. Despite this, Thiel still held a tenuous 7-6 halftime lead after scoring the next two goals.
 
The second half resembled a boxing match, with both teams taking jabs at one another and looking for the finishing blow. Thiel was close to knocking out Chatham after taking an 11-8 lead halfway through the half, but Chatham responded with another run. This time, the Cougars scored six of the final seven goals and were able to come home with a 14-12 win.
 
The game was decided in the final three minutes. Graduate Rachel Belles took a pass from sophomore captain Phallon Kilduff and scored to put Chatham up 13-12. After Thiel saved the ensuing Chatham shot, junior Rachel Borucki caused a key turnover and scooped up the ground ball to give the Cougars the ball back. Chatham milked the clock down to 37 seconds after a Kilduff shot was saved, and graduate Bria Braddock put the finishing blow off of a free position.
 
Despite being outshot for the game 35-31, Chatham was accurate on its shots after whipping 29 attempts on goal. Chatham also narrowly won the ground ball battle 22-19.
 
Braddock led the way for Chatham, scoring five goals for the second consecutive game. Belles and first-year Darryn Sleeman had three goals, classmate Stephanie Walter had two goals with an assist and a team-best seven ground balls and three caused turnovers. Kilduff scored a goal with an assist, while first-year Natalie Smith and junior Brielle Rapsas both handed out one assist. In net, sophomore Aria Dietrich stopped eight Tomcat shots.
 
Chatham's road swing continues on Saturday, April 10, when it travels to Greene County for a rematch with Waynesburg at 8 p.m.