ROCHESTER, N.Y. – For the second straight season the Roberts Wesleyan women's lacrosse team is headed to the East Coast Conference Championship game after defeating Molloy College on Thursday afternoon, 14-12 at home on Redhawks Field. The Redhawks will advance to play the top-seeded Mercy Mavericks on Saturday at noon.
Seniors Alexis Grant and Ellen O'Neil picked a good game to notch career highs, with Grant scoring six goals and O'Neil dishing out six assists. The duo led the offensive attack and connected on a total of five goals.
"That was our game plan and we executed," said head coach Kristin Paolini. "We knew that they were going to face guard Lindsey and Maddie. Ellen and Lexi were disciplined and they adjusted and delivered."
In addition to a single-game career-high in goals, Grant also recorded her 100th career point. But the senior attacker/midfielder isn't focused on her stats, but is looking forward to another run at Mercy. "It's very sweet," Grant said about Thursday's semifinal win. "Hopefully we can repeat and make history again."
It had been 12 days since the Redhawks last played in a game, after the final game of the regular season against UDC was canceled. It showed in the first half as Roberts took a while to get into gear, but when the second half began, Roberts took control.
After being down 7-5 in the first half the Redhawks dominated the third quarter with six goals while only giving up one goal. Roberts then went on to score the first two goals of the fourth quarter to take a 13-8 lead, the largest of the game.
"We came out so hard and so aggressively after that first draw of the second half," said Paolini. "It sparked a fire. I had full confidence in them that they were going to come out and do what they did in the second half."
Molloy was able to cut the lead to three goals midway through the fourth quarter, but a goal by Lindsey Brinkel with 2:45 remaining helped keep the game out of reach for the Lions. Brinkel finished with three goals.
Madison Bell added four points for the Redhawks on three goals and an assist. Caitlin Harding and O'Neil also scored one goal each.
Defensively, Roberts pressured Molloy into 24 turnovers with 16 of those being caused turnovers. Caitlin Tucker led the team with three caused turnovers.
Natalie Arieno made eight saves in net to pick up the win.
Roberts (9-5, 4-1 ECC) will travel to Mercy on Saturday for the ECC title game at noon. The game features a rematch of last year's championship game where the Redhawks walked away with 10-9 victory and its first-ever ECC crown.
Provided by the Roberts Wesleyan Sports Information Department.
