Gloucester girls lax falls just short of comeback against MC

Jun. 20—In the end, the Gloucester girls lacrosse team simply ran out of time.

The 16th-seeded Fishermen found themselves in a really tough spot after three quarters against No. 17 Malden Catholic in the Division 2 North Preliminary Round at Newell Stadium.

The Lancers held a commanding five-goal lead and were controlling the action through. But Gloucester turned in a furious comeback bid, cutting the deficit to one-goal twice and dominating the fourth quarter action. Malden Catholic, however, held on for a 10-8 victory.

Down 8-3, Gloucester (4-11) got to work quickly in the fourth as Ella Costa, Grace Boucher, Zoe Hedges and Nicole Gardner found the back of the net in the first 4:36 of the final frame to cut the deficit to 8-7.

Madison Turner answered for Malden Catholic just over a minute later for her game-high fourth goal of the afternoon, but Boucher (2 goals, 2 assists) put in a pass from Costa (3 goals, assist) to make it a one-goal game again with 5:54 to go.

The Lancers, who earned their first win of the season on Saturday improving to 1-7, ended up having the final answer as Antonina DiZoglio made it 10-8 with just under five minutes to play and the defense held off the Fishermen the rest of the way.

It was Malden Catholic that controlled the early stages of the game, but Gloucester goalie Ella Zindle kept it close throughout most of the morning.

Zindle stopped 17 shots, nearly canceling out Malden Catholic's 27-11 advantage in shots on goal.

Thanks to Zindle Gloucester trailed just 1-0 after the first quarter and took a 2-1 lead early in the second on goals from Brooke McNiff and Costa in the first 90 seconds of the second frame. But Malden Catholic finished the half strong with the final three goals to take a 4-2 lead into the break.

The Lancers then came out and took control of the game with two quick goals from Madelyn Ragucci to open the second half then two more late in the third to open up an 8-3 lead.