MANCHESTER, N.H. (Feb. 23, 2019) – Powered by a game-high six points from senior Hunter Isnardi (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) and sophomore Casey Shimborske (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale), the No. 12/14 Mercy College women's lacrosse team earned a 19-9 victory over Saint Anselm College on Saturday afternoon at Grappone Stadium.
The Mavericks (2-0) have won two games in a row, while the Hawks (0-1) open their season with a loss.
Isnardi had a game-high five goals along with an assist and a game-high 12 draw controls. Shimborske finished with three goals and three assists and junior Katherine Sanchez (Freeport, N.Y./Freeport) and freshman Micayla Brady (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) each netted three goals. Junior Mary Mackie (Bellport, N.Y./Bellport) recorded two goals and an assist and senior Talia Stagnitta (Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) finished with a goal, five ground balls and three caused turnovers. Sophomore Briana Corace (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) also got into the action with a goal and an assist. Freshman Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) produced a goal and senior Erin Dingman (Watertown, N.Y./Onondaga CC) had an assist. Junior Senna Tadfie (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) scooped up a game-high-tying five ground balls and sophomore Emma Jacobsen (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) made four saves to earn the win.
Saint Anselm was led by Molly Beck who had four goals and an assist. Bailee Pudvar played the first half in goal and made four saves to take the loss.
Mercy wasted little time in getting on the board as Corace found the back of the net less than a minute in off an assist from Isnardi to make it 1-0. It remained 1-0 until the 25:36 mark when Isnardi scored on a free position shot to put Mercy in front 2-0.
Shimborske then got on the board with back-to-back goals to make it 4-0 with 21:37 left in the opening half. A Jenna Balboni goal made it 4-1 less than a minute later, but goals from Brady, Stagnitta and Isnardi less than two minutes later increased the Mercy lead to 7-1 with 19 minutes remaining in the half.
Saint Anselm made it 7-2 at the 15:28 mark, but Mackie answered with a goal following an assist from Corace just 13 seconds later that put the Mercy lead to 8-2. After another Hawk goal, Isnardi scored again to bring the score to 9-3 before Saint Anselm rattled off two straight goals to make it 9-5 with 2:56 left in the half. A Mackie free position goal increased the lead back to five, 10-5, and Mercy headed into halftime up, 10-5.
The hosts opened the scoring in the second half to make it a four-goal game, 10-6, with 27:44 left. However, Brady followed with two unanswered goals and Shimborske tallied her third goal of the game to make it 13-6 with 22:48 remaining. Isnardi made it 14-6 at the 20:24 mark before Beck answered with a goal just over eight minutes later to make it 14-7 with 12:06 remaining.
Mercy put the game away with four straight goals as Isnardi, Sanchez and Grzelaczyk all scored to increase the Mercy advantage to 18-7 with seven minutes left to play. Saint Anselm came back with two more goals to make it 18-9, but Sanchez put the finishing touches on the win with a goal at the 1:26 mark to conclude the scoring.
Mercy held a 35-19 edge in shots, a 20-17 edge in ground balls and a 22-7 advantage in draw controls.
Head Coach Dawn Sachs and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, February 27th when they host New Haven at 3 p.m.
