The Fresno State women’s Lacrosse team was coming off of a big win over Delaware State when it faced the University at Albany at home, a match that ended with them losing 12-9.
The Saturday loss leaves the Bulldogs record at 5-4 for the season and 2-2 at home.
The Bulldogs grabbed an early one-goal lead in the first minutes of the game, but quickly found themselves overwhelmed by Albany’s offense. The first score for Fresno State came from attacker Sarah Bloise, who was unassisted in the goal.
The Dog’s were unable to stop the constant attack from Albany, who went on a 5-0 run.
Fresno State managed to keep the game within reach thanks to goalkeeper Laurel Maunder who had some great saves in the first half. Maunder finished with 13 saves for the game.
It wasn’t until five minutes before halftime that attacker Kayla Gallet found the net again for the Bulldogs, who trailed at the half by three goals.
The Great Danes’ intensity in the second half remained the same, with them scoring the sixth goal of the game within minutes. The ‘Dogs did not give up and got one goal back thanks to Marina Mayo, who scored unassisted.
Bulldog attacker Tiffany Wallace scored the fourth goal for the ‘Dogs unassisted, which cut Albany’s lead to two.
Albany took advantage of a counterattack to score another goal, but the Bulldogs answered quickly with a goal of their own by Bloise who scored her second of the night.
Toward the end of the second half, Fresno State played with more urgency, trying to get more goals and tie the game. However, Albany scored two more goals, making it 9-5.
Attacker Ryleigh Bone scored her first goal of the match with 10 minutes left in the game. That cut the lead to three goals and made it 9-6. Bone would score two more times sandwiching Mackenzie Wallevand’s goal.
Albany kept pace with three more goals, bringing the final score to 12-9.
“We had really good stops on defense, we just need to finish our opportunities and play a full 60 minutes,” head coach Jessica Giglio said. “We fight for each other, and we play with a lot of heart, and that’s an important thing to have in a team.”