Lady Rams Surrender to Spartans

West Hempstead's Lady Rams lacrosse tried to stage a late comeback after falling behind in Tuesday's matchup against Elmont, but fell one goal short to lose, 6-5.

The varsity girls team got down 4-1 to the Spartans in the first half of the April 26 game but rallied early in the second with goals from seniors Katie Lynch, Ashley Merrill and Melissa Kosick.

Freshman Nina Boria was also influential in helping to lead the Lady Rams in their second-half push. With her team down 6-3, she was awarded a penalty shot after an Elmont player got called for three seconds in the crease. Boria raced at the goal and pounded the ball into the net, cutting the deficit to 6-4.

A few minutes later Kosick was awarded another penalty shot that was blocked by the Elmont goalkeeper. With the offensive momentum on their side though, midfielder Merrill weaved through defenders and scored the second goal of the half for the Lady Rams.

It looked like West Hempstead had found its groove, but Elmont hung on, playing steady defense and keeping the ball on the West Hempstead side of the field for the remainder of the game.

In an exciting conclusion, Boria was given a free penalty shot with 4.6 seconds left on the clock. She cocked back for the shot but the ball fell out of her stick and landed on the ground as time expired.

"It was a game we should have won, but we didn't have a full team here today and it affected us on the field.," said West Hempstead coach Tracy Hutt. "Some girls were away on vacation and our committment level this past week just wasn't there."

The tough loss was hard to swallow after the Lady Rams notched their first win of the season on April 16 against Great Neck North, and were looking for a strong follow-up to that victory.

They are now 1-8 (1-4 conference) and will play at Glen Cove on Friday.