Shirley, N.Y. - The Golden Lions defeated St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans in tonight's East Coast Conference semifinal game 12-6. The Dowling women's lacrosse team will advance to the ECC Championship game to defend their title against conference rival LIU Post.
Senior Jackie Andersen started the game with a goal within the first four minutes to give the Golden Lions an early lead. Less than a minute after, teammate Trisha Serras found the back of the Spartan's net. A man down play against the Golden Lions didn't stop Brooke Kreuscher who set up teammate Allie Merrill for a goal, to increase Dowling's lead by three. The Spartans found their first goal of the game by Kellie Kucinski who went to the cage unassisted. The rest of the half was a battle at the net with teams exchanging goals, leaving the score at 6-4 in favor of the Golden Lions.
The second half started again with Andersen finding the back of the net, which brought more accolades to an already tremendous career at Dowling. Andersen is now ranked in NCAA history for Division II women's lacrosse for career goals (10th) and career points (6th).
Dowling's Allie Merrill was a stand out in the second half with three goals (four total) to help bring her team to the championship game. Goalie Lauren Young was a key factor in tonight's win totaling nine saves for a .600 save percentage. Leading the Spartans offensively scoring two goals apiece were Kellie Kucinski and Caroline Finnen.
The Golden Lions will defend their ECC Championship title on Saturday, May 2nd on their home field against LIU Post Pioneers at 12:00pm.
Provided by the Dowling Sports Information Department.
