Women's Lacrosse

No. 1 Mercy, No. 3 Molloy to Face Off in ECC Women's Lacrosse Championship Final

No. 1 Mercy and No. 3 Molloy defeated their opposition in Wednesday afternoon's ECC Women's Lacrosse Championship Semifinals. The Mavericks – who advance to their eighth consecutive ECC Final – will host the Lions – who will appear in their first ever ECC Final – on Saturday afternoon, with time to be determined. 

The game will be streamed live and free of charge on the ECC Sports Network. 
NO. 1 MERCY d. NO. 4 DAEMEN, 21-2
BOX SCORE
Recap courtesy of Mercy University Sports Information

DOBBS FERRY, NY – Powered by a game-high six points from freshman Kayden Meyer (Mastic, N.Y./William Floyd), the No. 1 seeded Mercy University women's lacrosse team earned a 21-2 win over No. 4 seeded Daemen University in an ECC Women's Lacrosse Championship Semifinal on Wednesday afternoon at Mercy Field.

The Mavericks (10-6) have won three games in a row and beat the Wildcats (5-11) for the second time this season. Mercy advances to Saturday's Final for the eighth straight time. The Mavericks will host Molloy in the Final on Saturday, May 3rd at a time to be announced. 

Mercy was led by Meyer who had a game-high five goals with one assist. Sophomore Riley Wallace (Islip, N.Y./Islip) had four goals, one assist and five draw controls and freshman Ashlinn Kelly (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) had three goals, two assists, four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Junior Maeghan Callow (Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) added three goals, an assist and a game-high eight draw controls and senior Leah Hansen (Greenlawn, N.Y./Harborfields) had two goals and two assists. Sophomore Juliana Talenti (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) and freshman Marena Morales (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) both had two goals and an assist and senior Lindsey Shimborske (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) had three ground balls, two caused turnovers and three draw controls.

Junior Emily Marino (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) had three ground balls and two caused turnovers and junior Olivia LaMonica (Oak Ridge, N.J./Jefferson Township) made four saves to earn the win. Sophomore Olivia Bradley (East Northport, N.Y./Commack) made three saves in the fourth quarter. 
Daemen was led by Ella Bouley and Shannen Calandra who both scored. Molly Evans made a game-high six saves to take the loss. 

A Kelly goal from Talenti at the 11:58 mark of the first quarter gave Mercy a 1-0 lead. Meyer and Hansen followed with goals to make it 3-0 with 8:34 left in the quarter and Kelly and Morales scored goals to give Mercy a 5-0 lead with 3:30 remaining in the quarter, leading to a Daemen timeout. Following the timeout, a Calandra goal made it 5-1 before Meyer closed the scoring in the quarter to give Mercy a 6-1 lead after the first quarter. 

Wallace, Callow and Talenti scored three goals in just over two minutes to begin the second quarter, giving Mercy a 9-1 lead. Callow, Meyer, Talenti, Morales and Hansen closed the quarter with goals to put the Mavericks up, 14-1, at halftime. 

Back-to-back goals from Wallace to open the third quarter made it 16-1 before goals from Callow and Wallace made it 18-1 with 6:27 left in the quarter. Meyer ended the quarter with two straight goals to give Mercy a 20-1 lead after three quarters. 

Kelly scored the Mavericks' final goal at the 10:59 mark of the fourth quarter, off a Wallace assist, to give Mercy a 21-1 lead. A late Bouley goal made it 21-2, but the Mavericks cruised the rest of the way to the 21-2 win. 

Mercy held a 35-12 edge in shots, a 24-11 edge in ground balls and a 16-9 edge in draw controls.

NO. 3 MOLLOY d. NO. 2 ROBERTS WESLEYAN, 16-15
BOX SCORE
Recap courtesy of Molloy University Sports Information

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY – The third-seeded women's lacrosse team topped the second-seeded Redhawks of Roberts Wesleyan University this evening in the semifinal round of the East Coast Conference Tournament, 16-15. The Lions will advance to play for the ECC Championship for the first time in the program's history with the victory and snaps a nine-game losing streak against the Redhawks. RWU ends their season with a record of 7-8 while Molloy improves to 9-8 with the win.

How it Happened

  • Roberts Wesleyan took an early lead and ended the first quarter ahead 5-2. Goals from freshman Emma Ryan and senior Megan Rugolo kept Molloy within striking distance in the first frame.
  • Senior Brenna Signorelli would score back-to-back goals to open the second quarter and bring the Lions within one, 5-4.
  • The home team responded with three-straight goals.
  • Not to be outdone, the Molloy offense would net the next three markers off the sticks of Signorelli, freshman Ava Benasutti, and senior Sofia Quitoni. Quitoni's goal came in the final minute of the opening half and cut the deficit to just one goal, 8-7, at the break.
  • The teams exchanged two goal runs through the first nine minutes of the third quarter with Roberts Wesleyan leading 12-9.
  • Qutioni, Rugolo and Signorelli each scored in succession over a span of just over two minutes to knot the score at 12.
  • Rugolo's third goal of the contest came in the final minute of the third quarter and gave the Lions the lead for the first time in the contest.
  • A goal from Kadie Tierney knotted the score once more and made it an even contest headed into the final 15 minutes of play.
  • Ryan scored to kick off the fourth quarter, but Alison Dioguardi responded just 45 seconds later with a tying goal for RWU.
  • Qutioni notched what would become the game-winning goal just 30 seconds later before a man up goal from Benasutti gave the Lions some breathing room headed into the final six minutes of game time.
  • Emma Blumenstock would bring the Redhawks within one, 16-15 with three minutes to play. 
  • Rugolo won the resulting draw and Molloy did not allow Roberts Wesleyan to get a possession until just over two minutes left on the clock. Tierney's shot in the final minute went wide of the cage and Molloy was able to hold onto the ball for a clear before time expired for the victory.
Top Performances
  • Signorelli matched a career-high five goals in the effort while adding four draw controls, two ground balls, and two caused turnovers.
  • Rugolo also reached five points on three goals and two assists. She topped all players with 10 draw controls and added two ground balls.
  • Quitoni added four points on three goals and an assist to go with two caused turnovers and two draw controls.
  • Benasutti (three goals) and senior Alexa Amorison (three assists) each had three points.
  • Ryan scored twice while senior Alessandra Borsellino dished out two assists.
  • Senior Carly Howell also added two ground balls and a caused turnover.
  • Sophomore Nicole Schaumloffel made five saves in net.