Haines Scores Game-Winner in Overtime as Women's Lacrosse Defeats Roberts Wesleyan, 12-11
Box Score ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Apr. 16, 2016) – Powered by a game-winning goal with 39 seconds left in overtime from junior Alexa Haines (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) after overcoming a four-goal first-half deficit, the Mercy College women's lacrosse team picked up their third straight win with a 12-11 victory over ECC foe Roberts Wesleyan College on Saturday afternoon.
The Mavericks (9-4, 4-2 ECC) now have their most conference wins since the 2012 season and the nine wins tie the school record previously set by the 2011 team. The Redhawks (5-8, 2-4 ECC) have now dropped three of their last four games.
Haines ended the contest with two goals and two assists, while freshman Hunter Isnardi (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) finished with a game-high five goals and ten draw controls. Sophomore Grace Davidson (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) concluded the day with two goals and an assist and senior Meg McNally (Hillburn, N.Y./Lock Haven Univ.) chipped in a goal and an assist. Senior Nicole Kline (Deer Park, N.Y./Deer Park) and freshman Sarah Koehler (West Sayville, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) rounded out the Mavericks to score. Freshman Talia Stagnitta (Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) helped lead Mercy defensively with a game-high four caused turnovers. Junior Jillian Rocco (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) made the start in net and played the first half with three saves before giving way to junior Shianne Judson (Bayshore, N.Y./Bayshore) who concluded the game with six saves in second half and overtime to pick up the win.
Roberts Wesleyan was led by Cassley Jackowski who had a team-high five points on four goals and an assist. Shannon Knapp played the entire game in net and made 11 saves in a losing effort.
The Mavericks, who entered the contest winless on the road, would fall behind early as the Redhawks scored the first three goals of the game to take a 3-0 lead with 20:11 left in the first half. Isnardi finally got the Mercy offense going with her first of the day at the 15:50 mark to make it 3-1. However, Loren Dunn immediately answered for the hosts on a free position shot to take a 4-1 lead.
Isnardi continued to single handedly keep the Mavericks in the game as she tallied her second of the contest with 8:55 remaining to cut the deficit to 4-2. Dunn once again responded for the Redhawks to make it a three-goal game again at 5-2. Isnardi and Dunn connected again for their respective teams to bring it to a 6-3 game with just under five minutes left before halftime.
Jackowski picked up a goal with 3:40 showing on the clock to give Roberts Wesleyan their largest lead of the game, 7-3. Isnardi would come back with her fourth goal of the half less than 30 seconds later to make it 7-4 and the score remained the same heading into the intermission.
After a sluggish first half, the Mavericks wasted little time in getting back to their usual selves as they opened the second half with three goals in the first three minutes of the half to tie the game up at 7-7, forcing a Roberts Wesleyan timeout. Haines started the barrage before Davidson netted her two goals of the game to even up the game.
Despite the strong start to the half by Mercy, the Redhawks ensued with two straight goals to increase the lead back to two, 9-7, with 19:43 left. It looked like Roberts Wesleyan was regaining their momentum, but Isnardi came up with her fifth goal of the day to show that the Mavericks were not going away.
Johannah Price gave the hosts another two-goal lead at 10-8 with 15 minutes left to play in regulation. Mercy continued to fight and followed with three straight goals to take their first lead of the game at 11-10 with 7:21 left after a McNally free position goal. Kline and Koehler got the run started with their lone goals of the game. The Mavericks looked to be on their way to a regulation win, but Price scored with 1:31 left in the half to even up the score at 11-11. Judson stepped up in the closing seconds of regulation with two saves to keep the game tied, sending the teams into overtime.
The overtime period saw the McNally win the draw control which led to Isnardi taking a shot that was stopped by Knapp. After a McNally shot and Mercy timeout, Haines would find the back of the net off a pass from Davidson with just 39 seconds left in the first overtime period to give the Mavericks an impressive 12-11 come-from-behind victory.
Mercy held a 30-28 edge in shots, while the Redhawks maintained a 14-9 advantage in groundballs. The Mavericks held a 16-9 edge in draw controls and went 11-of-13 on clear attempts.
Head Coach Dawn Anselmin and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, April 20th with a road matchup against Georgian Court at 2 p.m.
