Davidson Scores Career-High Six Goals as Women's Lacrosse Earns 15-12 Victory Over Bridgeport
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 13, 2016) – Powered by a career-high six goals from sophomore Grace Davidson (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip), the Mercy College women's lacrosse team earned a 15-12 victory over ECC opponent University of Bridgeport on Wednesday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (8-4, 3-2 ECC) surpass their win total from a year ago and improve to 8-0 at home this season. The Purple Knights (4-7, 0-5 ECC) remain winless in conference play and have dropped three straight.
Davidson led all scorers on the day and added two groundballs. Senior Meg McNally (Hillburn, N.Y./Lock Haven Univ.) added three goals and two assists, while junior Alexa Haines (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) chipped in two goals and three assists. Freshman Hunter Isnardi (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) netted two goals and ended the contest with an impressive 16 draw controls. Sophomore Emily Jehle (Wading River, N.Y./Riverhead) and freshman Sarah Koehler (West Sayville, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) rounded out the Mavericks who scored. Sophomore Hope Coticchio (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) and junior Melissa DellaRocca (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) led Mercy defensively with three groundballs and three caused turnovers. Junior Jillian Rocco (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) played the first half and made two saves to pick up the win and improve to 8-1 on the year.
Bridgeport was led by Abigail Benesh who had a team-high five goals, while goalie Megan Carney played the full 60 minutes with 14 saves in a losing effort.
Mercy got off to a strong start as Haines netted her first goal of the game at the 28:15 mark to give the Mavericks an early 1-0 lead. Bridgeport showed that they were in for a battle as Lauren Mengel came back with a free position goal just under three minutes later to tie up the score.
Isnardi would end the tie on her 22nd goal of the season, following one of her 16 draw controls, to make it 2-1 Mavericks with 25:40 left in the half. Davidson and Haines then netted a pair to increase the Mercy lead to 4-1 with 23 minutes remaining before halftime.
Benesh tallied her first of the day at the 20:18 mark to get the Purple Knights within two, 4-2. However, the Mavericks responded with four straight goals to take an 8-2 lead at the 10:14 mark, forcing a Bridgeport timeout. Davidson produced three of her goals during the run and Jehle netted her goal of the day to cap off the run.
Mercy looked to be pulling away, but the visitors came back with four straight goals of their own to make it 8-6 with just over a minute left in the first half. Bridgeport looked to be heading into halftime down just two, but McNally scored right before halftime to give the Mavericks a 9-6 lead at the intermission.
The second half saw the Purple Knights open up the scoring at the 24:55 mark to make it 9-7. Once again though Isnardi followed with one of her draw controls and finished off her second goal of the day to increase the Mercy lead to 10-7.
McNally and Davidson followed with a pair each to give the Mavericks their largest lead of the game at 14-7 with 18:44 remaining. Bridgeport had one last run in them as they scored four in a row to make it 14-11 with just under ten minutes left. Koehler gave Mercy a four-goal lead, 15-11, with 5:43 remaining and the Mavericks held on despite allowing a late Purple Knights goal.
Mercy held a 34-17 edge in shots and a 19-11 advantage in groundballs.
Head Coach Dawn Anselmin and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, April 16th at Roberts Wesleyan at 3 p.m.
