The Gannon University Lacrosse team was in need of a boost after coming up short against stiff competition in the early part of its young season.
Gannon University Field proved to be the necessary venue to obtain that boost.
The Knights opened the season with a four-game road trip, which is usually not seen as an easy feat regardless of when it falls in the season. They won the first contest of the year against Queens College by a score of 18-12 but only rocky roads laid ahead on the season-commencing venture.
Gannon suffered defeats at the sticks of 15th-ranked Pfeiffer, 5th-ranked Limestone, and Division I Niagara, and not for lack of effort according to Head Coach Lindsey Lowman.
“(They were) all hard-fought games, but we just came up short,” Lowman said of the trip.
Only two games away from the Knights’ PSAC-opening bout with Slippery Rock, Lowman was eager to get back to the drawing board and employ the lessons learned against the upper echelon of teams the road trip featured.
“We need to work on our patience on attack,” Lowman said, “Once we settle down and start reading the defense, we have a lot of weapons who can score on the attack.”
Gannon did just that in the two games by establishing their turf at home. The Knights defeated Lake Erie College in their home opener 22-8 Friday, and followed with a 17-7 victory against visiting Slippery Rock University to begin its PSAC campaign.
Through the course of these games, Lowman was forced to become aware of the weapons that she actually had.
“Kim Neagle has really started to step up on attack and is feeling more comfortable being an offensive threat,” Lowman said.
Neagle has scored 15 goals to stake out her share of the team lead. She has also added 6 assists.
Neagle’s scoring rival and offensive leader of the Knights is junior midfielder Jess Fugate, who has already amassed 34 points, with 15 goals and 19 assists.
Although Fugate is far and away the statistical leader offensively, Lowman has been very pleased with her play defensively as well.
“Jess Fugate is a strong player who has done great things on both ends of the field so far,“ Lowman said.
The Knights hit the road Friday to visit the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania Fighting Scots, a trip their much more familiar with.
