Easton, Mass. – Despite a game-high-tying five goals from senior Juliana Keenan (Bethpage, N.Y./Plainedge) and a game-high eight caused turnovers from senior Micayla Brady (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa), the No. 4 seeded Mercy College women's lacrosse team dropped a hard-fought 18-17 decision to No. 1 seeded Stonehill College in the First Round of the NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Championship on Friday afternoon at W.B. Mason Stadium.
The Mavericks (14-5) see their eight-game winning streak come to an end, while the Skyhawks (18-2) have won 12 games in a row. Stonehill will face the winner of Adelphi/Le Moyne on Sunday at 12 p.m.
Keenan had a game-high-tying five goals and sophomore Kelly Rosenfeld (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) had four goals and an assist. Senior Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) had three goals and graduate student Briana Corace (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) had two goals and an assist. Senior Taylor Bishop (West Milford, N.J./West Milford) and freshman Leah Hansen (Greenlawn, N.Y./Harborfields) each had a goal and an assist and senior Kerri Cummings (Islip, N.Y./Islip) had three assists. Sophomore Christina Lopreato (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) also scored and Brady had a game-high eight caused turnovers with a game-high four ground balls. Freshman Lindsey Shimborske (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) added three caused turnovers. Senior Madeline Garvalosa (Seaford, N.Y./St. Anthony's) made 10 saves to take the loss.
Stonehill was led by Emma Sullivan who had a game-high-tying five goals. Sarah Faley made eight saves to earn the win.
Grzelaczyk made it 1-0 with her first of the day at the 12:05 mark of the first quarter. The Mavericks would tack on four more goals to take a 5-0 lead with 7:47 left in the quarter. Hansen netted the second Mercy goal before Keenan recorded back-to-back goals and Grzelaczyk added another to make it 5-0. Back-to-back goals from Lilly Leach made it 5-2 with five minutes left in the quarter. Rosenfeld and Corace answered with two straight goals to give the Mavericks a 7-2 lead at the 3:22 mark. Stonehill closed the quarter with three straight goals to head into the second quarter down, 7-5.
Rosenfeld scored the first goal of the second quarter to give Mercy an 8-5 lead with 9:20 left in the half. The Skyhawks closed the quarter with six straight goals to take an 11-8 lead at halftime.
Sullivan made it 12-8 with 9:58 left in the third quarter. Lopreato, Bishop and Keenan rattled off three straight goals to cut the Stonehill lead to one, 12-11, with three minutes left in the quarter. Kayla Conway and Corace traded goals to close out the quarter, giving Stonehill a 13-12 lead after three quarters.
Keenan tied the game at 13-13 with 9:53 to play. Stonehill responded with five straight goals to take an 18-13 lead with 7:18 left, leading to a Mercy timeout. The Skyhawks looked to have the game well in hand but the Mavericks would not go away quietly. Rosenfeld made it 18-14 with 5:10 on the clock and Grzelaczyk and Rosenfeld found the back of the net again in a span of under a minute to cut Stonehill's lead to 18-16 with 3:34 left. Keenan got the Mavericks to within one, 18-17, with 51 seconds left after a woman-up free-position goal. Mercy had a chance to tie with 10 seconds left but Faley made a final save on a Lopreato shot to give Stonehill the win.
Stonehill held a 31-29 edge in shots and a 28-11 edge in draw controls. Mercy held an 18-11 edge in ground balls.
Provided by the Mercy Sports Information Department.
