Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. – Powered by a game-high six ground balls and four caused turnovers from sophomore Lindsey Shimborske, the No. 1 seeded Mercy College women's lacrosse team earned a 9-8 win over No. 2 seeded Roberts Wesleyan University to win their second straight East Coast Conference (ECC) Women's Lacrosse Championship on Sunday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (13-6) have won seven games in a row and have won three of the last four ECC Championships. Mercy defeats the Redhawks (12-6) for the second straight year in the final. The Mavericks now await a possible NCAA Tournament berth with the selection show set for tonight at 8:30 p.m. at NCAA.com.
Shimborske was named the championship's Most Outstanding Player and now has a school-record 55 caused turnovers this season. She surpasses the previous record of 51 set by Micayla Brady in 2021. Sophomore Leena Moussa had a game-high-tying two goals and graduate student Erin Shimborske had a goal and an assist. Graduate students Jaclyn Grzelaczyk and Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk, junior Kelly Rosenfeld, sophomore Leah Hansen and freshman Andrea Mott also scored. Graduate student Emma Rippon had a goal, four ground balls, two caused turnovers and five draw controls. Junior Olivia Maute made five saves in the first half. Freshman Olivia LaMonica made five saves in the second half with just two goals allowed to earn the win.
Roberts Wesleyan was led by Annie Mulhall who had a game-high three points on two goals and an assist. Natalie Arieno made seven saves in 34:42 minutes of action to take the loss.
Rippon gave Mercy a 1-0 lead less than a minute into the first quarter on a free position shot. Tori Lammes and Annie Mulhall followed with back-to-back goals to give the Redhawks a 2-1 lead with nine minutes left in the quarter. Moussa won the ensuing draw control and finished to tie the game at 2-2. Tannah O'Neill-Blake gave Roberts Wesleyan a 3-2 lead at the 4:57 mark of the quarter. A Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk woman-up goal with three minutes left in the quarter tied the game again at 3-3. Lammes and Jaclyn Grzelaczyk closed the quarter with goals to send the teams into the second quarter tied at 4-4.
Alexis Grant and Mulhall scored consecutive goals to open the second quarter, giving Roberts Wesleyan their largest lead of the game, 6-4, with 8:32 left in the half. Mott followed with a woman-up goal at the 6:44 mark to make it 6-5 and Rosenfeld scored with 39 seconds on the clock to tie the score at 6-6 heading into halftime.
Erin Shimborske, Moussa and Hansen scored the first three goals of the third quarter to give Mercy their largest lead of the game, 9-6, with eight minutes left in the quarter. Kadie Tierney scored a free position goal with two seconds left on the clock to cut Mercy's lead to 9-7 after three quarters.
The score remained 9-7 until the 6:32 mark of the fourth quarter when Emma Blumenstock scored to make it 9-8. The Mavericks defense would hold the Redhawks scoreless for the rest of the game to secure their third ECC Championship in four seasons.
Mercy held a 30-23 edge in shots, a 22-11 edge in ground balls and Roberts Wesleyan held a 10-9 edge in draw controls.
Release provided by the Mercy Sports Information Department.
