NEW BRITAIN, CONN. — The Howard lacrosse team failed to record their first win on the road on Friday afternoon after dropping 10-20 at the hands of Central Connecticut State. With the loss, the Lady Bison fell to a 3-5 season record.Bouncing back from her lowest-scoring game of the season with one goal against St. Francis (Pa.) was senior Desiree Cox who mustered four goals in Howard’s loss. Courtland Lackey tied Cox for most Bison goals while junior Cheyrese Cox and Cynithia Smalls recorded the remaining two goals.
Smalls was the first to get on the board for Howard, scoring unassisted seven minutes into the first half, slimming Central Connecticut (5-2) to a 3-1 lead. The Lady Bison struggled to catch up with the Blue Devils who went on to score four unanswered goals within the opening 20 minutes of play.
Lackey chimed in with HU’s second, and her first, goal of the game with 9:21 on the first period clock. Shortly after Lackey gave the Lady Bison hope to close in on the Blue Devils after notching back to back scores late in the first half. Desiree, who is normally Howard’s leadoff scorer, remained scoreless until 3:18 was left in the first half. Her score edged the Lady Bison within six goals by the close of the half.Despite the energetic burst produced late in the first half by Lackey and Desiree, the Bison came up short in the second half as they were outscored by the Blue Devils 5-9. Three of those five goals came from Desiree, Howard’s leading scorer.
Howard goal keeper Amber Meeks recorded seven saves against Central Connecticut’s 27 shots on goal. Overall the Lady Bison were outshot 34-27, despite maintaining a fair trade in draw controls as CCSU narrowly topped Howard with a 17-15 advantage. Howard slightly exceeded the Blue Devils in turnovers (15-16), but perfectly matched their opponent in ground balls (21-21).
The difference in the game was a matter of shooting percentage as the Bison converted 10-of-26 shots on goal into points on the board, while CCSU racked in 20-of-27. In the end, Howard shot 37 percent, which wasn’t enough to master the Blue Devils who recorded 16 saves and managed a 58.8 shooting percentage.
The Lady Bison will return to action in search of their first road win as they travel to face Longwood on Friday, March 25 at 4 p.m. For more information of the Howard lacrosse team visit Howard-Bison.com
Tiffany White
Sports Information Assistant
Howard University
