Mercy Falls to No. 1 Le Moyne in NCAA Tournament First Round

Mercy Falls to No. 1 Le Moyne in NCAA Tournament First Round

Syracuse, N.Y. – Despite a game-high-tying three goals and a game-high 14 draw controls from senior Hunter Isnardi(Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville), the No. 4 seeded Mercy College women's lacrosse team dropped a 17-7 decision to No. 1 seeded Le Moyne College in the First Round of the 2019 NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Championship on Friday afternoon at Ted Grant Field.

The Mavericks (15-5) see their seven-game winning streak come to an end. Mercy sees their season come to an end after winning their first-ever ECC Championship and making their second NCAA Tournament appearance. The Dolphins (20-1) will play the winner of Adelphi/LIU Post in a Quarterfinal matchup on Sunday.

Isnardi had a game-high-tying three goals and finishes with a single-season school record in goals with 99. The senior also had 14 draw controls, one assist and a game-high-tying four ground balls. The senior finishes her career with 351 points and 310 goals. However, the final point of her career came on an assist on the Mavericks final goal of the season at the 6:55 mark of the second half. Junior Katherine Sanchez(Freeport, N.Y./Freeport), sophomore Briana Corace (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) and freshmen Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) and Juliana Keenan (Bethpage, N.Y./Plainedge) also scored. Junior Mary Mackie (Bellport, N.Y./Bellport) dished out a team-high two assists. Freshman Micayla Brady (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) finished with three caused turnovers and three ground balls and sophomore Emma Jacobsen (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) made six saves to take the loss.

Le Moyne was led by Sydney Meagher and Nicole Delany who both had a game-high five points on three goals and two assists. Hannah George made 11 saves to earn the win.

The Dolphins opened the contest with three straight goals to take a 3-0 lead at the 20:18 mark of the first half. Corace and Sanchez answered with back-to-back goals to make it 3-2 with 16:04 remaining in the opening half.

Le Moyne responded with two straight goals to increase the lead to 5-2 with ten minutes left in the half. Isnardi made it 5-3 off an assist from Mackie at the 7:39 mark. The Dolphins ended the half with four straight goals to head into halftime up 9-3.

Isnardi got the Mavericks on the board first in the second half to make it 9-4. However, Brittney Pollack came back with a goal for Le Moyne to give the hosts a 10-4 lead at the 25:19 mark. Grzelaczyk made it 10-5 on a free position goal with 23:51 left. The Dolphins ensued with five straight goals to increase the lead to 15-5 with 9:36 remaining.

Isnardi and Keenan tallied two goals in a row to make it 15-7, but Le Moyne scored the game's final two goals to secure the win.

Mercy held a 26-23 edge in shots and a 16-10 edge in draw controls. Le Moyne held a 16-11 edge in ground balls.

Provided by the Mercy Sports Information Department.