Howard Drops Third Conference Match to Lady Flames

LYNCHBURG, VA. – The Lady Bison women’s lacrosse team faced off against the Liberty Lady Flames on Sunday afternoon. Howard (3-7, 0-3 NLC) entered the match with three consecutive losses on the road, most recently against two-time defending National Lacrosse Conference champion Longwood on Friday, and hoped to end the streak. Unfortunately, however, Howard fell to their conference opponent, 19-9.

Courtland Lackey led the Bison in goals for the first time this season, tallying three on the day. Chastity Dailey and Taylor Tynes each posted two goals, as Desiree Cox and Cynithia Smalls added a score a piece for Howard.

Headlining the Bison in groundballs was goalkeeper Amber Meeks with six and Lackey with five. Meeks finished the game with 14 saves bringing her season total to 116 (.439). Dailey also caused three turnovers in the match.

The Lady Flames (4-3, 2-0 NLC) found the back of the net early in the game as Audra Menez scored unassisted within the initial 50 seconds of play. Shortly after Tynes lit her first goal of the game to even the score. Liberty answered back with 6-0 run.

Smalls and Cox ended Liberty’s 10-minute scoring frenzy to close the goal differential to four. The Lady Flames remained aggressive on the offensive front and tallied another score. Tynes quickly responded with 4:36 on the clock with her second of the game on a free position shot. Within seconds the Lady Flames scored again and ended the half with the 9-4 lead.

The Lady Bison fought back and brought the game to a competitive height, notching four straight goals in opening of the second half to trail Liberty 9-8. Defensively, Howard was able to control the Lady Flames, keeping them scoreless for 14 minutes, however Liberty responded with a 10-1 run that spread throughout the remainder of the game.

Lackey was able to muster a score for the Lady Bison with 6:05 on the clock, it would be HU’s last goal of the game.

Howard was outshot 39-29, and surrendered advantages in draw controls (18-12), groundballs (32-22) and team clears (15-11) to the Lady Flames.

The Lady Bison will hit the road twice more against High Point on April 1 at 5 pm and Davidson on April 3 at 1 pm before returning home to host Jacksonville on April 9. Visit Howard-Bison.com for more information on the Howard lacrosse team.

LADY BISON LAX REMAINING GAMES:

Apr. 1 at High Point * 5:00 PM
Apr. 3 at Davidson * 1:00 PM
Apr. 9 (SATURDAY) Jacksonville * 1:00 PM GREENE STADIUM
Apr. 16 at Detroit Mercy * 12:00 PM
Apr. 20 (WEDNESDAY) Fresno St. 7:00 PM, GREENE STADIUM

Lacrosse is Cool...Come out to Greene Stadium April 9 & 20 for Bison LAX

Tiffany White, Sports Information Assistant
Howard University

HU Bison Denied First Road Win Against CCSU

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

Six HU Bison Score in 17-7 Win over Wilmington

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After splitting four games at Greene Stadium over the course of the season, the Howard lacrosse team looked to sack their third consecutive win at home against Wilmington (Del.) on March 9. The match marked Wilmington’s (1-2) third match of their regular season and they too were hoping to capitalize on another consecutive win, however, Howard (3-3) would be the team to come out on top, stretching their winning streak to three games, as they defeated Wilmington, 17-7.

The Bison found a fluid rhythm, racking in seven goals in the first half. Six members of the Bison tallied goals in the win, while senior Desiree Cox finished with seven goals and a game-leading two assists. Behind Cox in scoring was Cynithia Smalls with three goals, Cheryse Cox and Tynes Taylor with two, and Ashley Lawrence with one.

Cox exploded in the early minutes of the game with three quick scores after charging down the field and dodging multiple defenders with ease. Cox added two more goals before the close of the half.

Following halftime Wilmington picked up momentum after Howard gave their opponent a goal where a Howard defender mistakenly flipped the ball into the net with the intention of passing it to goalie Amber Meeks on a scramble in the box. Wilmington’s Danielle Niccoli shortly after scored their fourth goal on a free position shot.

Howard quickly regained control of the game with three goals of their own, extending their lead, 11-4.

Defensively, Howard kept Wilmington off balance, limiting their opponents to a mere 24.1 shooting percentage (7-29). Meanwhile Howard boasted a 65.4 shooting percentage, scoring 17 goals on 26 shots. Meeks recorded an astounding 15 saves and allowed only four shots to get into the net, marking the fewest points scored by an opponent thus far into the season.

Up next the Lady Bison will travel to meet St. Francis (Pa.) on March 13 in hopes of claiming their first win on the road and fourth consecutive win. Visit Howard-Bison.com for more updates on the Howard lacrosse team.

Tiffany White, Sports Information Assistant
Howard University
Visit: howard-bison.com

Desiree Cox Scores Winning Goal in HU Overtime Thriller

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senior Desiree Cox lifted the Howard women’s lacrosse team to their first win of the season with the game-winning in an overtime thriller against the Marywood University Pacers. Cox’s six goals helped push the Bison to their 15-14 win.

The Bison flew to an early 5-0 lead over the Pacers before eventually allowing four unanswered goals. Howard would regain control and never let up their lead and ensued to score four additional quick goals in the second half.

Howard Bison Midfielder Desiree Cox

In the later part of the second period, however, Marywood’s Kimberly Commisso took advantage of a free position shot and inched Marywood within a goal of Howard’s 11-10 lead. Cox immediately responded with a goal to push Howard back up, 12-10.

A critical point in the final minutes of the game came when freshman Imani McLeary sacked her second yellow card, allowing Marywood another free position attempt. Marywood’s Taylor McKeown took advantage of the opportunity and successfully tied the game at 12 goals a piece with 7:12 left on the clock.

Junior Cheryse Cox garnered a free position shot of her own immediately following Marywood’s score and broke the tie to bring Howard up 13-12. Another Marywood score would bring the game back to a tie. Marywood would attempt to take the game with less than 30 seconds left in regulation, but HU’s goalie Amber Meeks garnered a crucial save in the net to send the match into overtime. Meeks would go on to finish the game with 12 saves.

Commisso jumpstarted the first overtime period with a goal, giving Marywood their first lead of the game. Desiree would have an opportunity to tie the game with a free position shot with time expired, but missed. She would rebound, however, to claim her fifth goal of the game off an assist from Cheryse. Cheryse led the Bison with two assists on the day.

Desiree would be granted another pair of chances after scoring what would have been the game-winning goal, however the point was taken away as a result of a Marywood foul. With less than a minute remaining, Desiree was allowed another free position shot, where she nailed the goal that afforded the Bison their first win of the season.

Desiree scored a season-high six goals in the game and led the Bison with 15 shots. Cheryse chimed in with thee goals on 12 total shots, while Courtland Lackey added two goals on three shots. Chastity Dailey, Ashley Lawrence, and Cynithia Smalls finished the game with a goal a piece to assist Howard in it’s highest scoring game thus far into the season.

By Tiffany White, Sports Information Assistant
Howard University
Visit: howard-bison.com

Division I Howard Nips Pacers in Overtime, 15-14

Washington, D.C. – Desiree Cox scored with just 23 seconds to play in the second overtime period to lift Division I Howard University to a 15-14 win over Marywood University in non-conference women's lacrosse action on Tuesday afternoon. The victory lifts the Bison's record to 2-3 on the young season while the Pacers finish their season-opening Spring Break trip with a 1-1 mark.

Howard built a 5-0 lead over the first 12:43 of Wednesday's contest before Marywood rattled off four consecutive goals to close the half and trail by a slim, 5-4 margin at the intermission. Allie Sodl started the Pacers' run with an unassisted tally at the 15:36 mark of the first half and Diana D'Achille scored just over three minutes later. Taylor McKeown netted the final two goals of the half for the Pacers.

The Bison opened the second half with a 4-0 run to reclaim a five-goal cushion at 9-4 when Courtland Lackey scored unassisted with 22:16 left on the clock. Marywood's Kimberly Commisso countered just 13 seconds later and D'Achille and McKeown followed with goals of their own to make the score 9-7 with 19:58 to play. Liz Fowler assisted on McKeown's third goal of the game to record the first point of her collegiate career.

Box Score

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