WASHINGTON, D.C. – The No. 16 Spartans survived a second-half comeback by Catholic as sophomore Katherine Burk tallied the game-winning goal with 1:23 left to give York the 9-8 win on the road.

The Basics: 

Game Number: 15

Site: Cardinal Stadium – Washington, D.C.

Records: York 10-5 / Catholic 5-7

Series: York leads 4-3

How it happened:

• Just over seven minutes into the first half York got on the board first with a pair of goals by Jordan Cassella a little over two minutes apart.
• Melissa Meehling tacked on a third goal with just over nine minutes to play in the first half as York took a 3-0 lead.
• Just over a minute later, the Cardinals got on the board with a free-position goal.
• Claudia DiVenti and Rachel Saks tallied goals just over a minute apart to put York up 5-1 with 3:54 left in the first half.
• Catholic cut into the Spartan lead with a goal with 38 seconds left in the half, but then Megan Strauch set up Allison Kolacy for a goal as seven seconds remained to take a 6-2 lead into halftime.
• York opened up the second half with an early goal by Kayleigh Phillips.
• The Spartans held on to a 7-2 lead for over 14 minutes before letting up a goal with 14:37 left in the game.
• Brittany Noell put York back ahead by five goals with a tally at 12:55 left to play.
• Then things got interesting as Catholic went on a 5-0 run over a span of nine minutes to tie the game 8-8 with 3:12 left to play.
• York won the ensuing draw after Catholic's eighth goal and ran some time off the clock before Burk buried the game-winner in the back of the net with 1:23 left to play.
• Strauch won the ensuing draw and York managed to run out the clock to seal the win.

Spartan Leaders:

Jordan Cassella – 2 points on 2 goals

Allison Kolacy – 2 points on 1 goal and 1 assist

Rachel Saks – 2 points on 1 goal and 1 assist

Megan Strauch – 4 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers

Kayleigh Phillips – 5 draw controls

Cardinal Leaders:

Alexis Bosilovic – 2 points on 2 goals, 6 caused turnovers, 6 ground balls

Laura Dunn – 2 points on 1 goal and 1 assist

Anna Stumme – 2 points on 2 goals

Erin Dugan – 2 draw controls

Goalie Comparison

Rachel Donovan (YCP) – 60:00 min, 6 saves, 8 GA, 2 ground balls, Win (7-4)

Christina De Cesaris (CUA) – 60:00 min, 3 saves, 9 GA, 2 ground balls, Loss (3-7)

Game Notes:

With tonight's narrow victory, York extends its win streak against unranked opponents to 44 games … York is now 2-3 this season in one-goal games … Kolacy reached the 100-point mark for her career tonight and ranks 10th on the program's all-time scoring list with 101 points …  the senior captain is the 10th player in the 11-year history of the program to reach 100 career points … the game-winning goal for Burk is the first of her career … Cassella tied a career-high with her two goals.

What's Next:

York closes out the regular season with a trip to No. 15 Christopher Newport on Saturday for a Capital Athletic Conference matchup at 1:00 p.m. A win will give York the fourth seed in the CAC Tournament and will host a first round game.

Katherine Burk photo courtesy of David Sinclair