DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 24, 2019) – Powered by a game-high-tying four points from senior Hunter Isnardi (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) on Senior Day, the No. 13/15 Mercy College women's lacrosse team secured a first-round bye in next week's ECC Tournament with a 14-9 victory over ECC foe No. 17/19 NYIT on Wednesday afternoon at Mercy Field.

The Mavericks (13-4, 7-1 ECC) have won five games in a row, while the Bears (12-4, 6-1 ECC) suffer their first ECC loss. Mercy will host an ECC Semifinal matchup on Thursday, May 2nd at 4 p.m. against an opponent to be determined.

Isnardi had two goals, two assists, a game-high four ground balls and a game-high 11 draw controls. Junior Katherine Sanchez (Freeport, N.Y./Freeport) and sophomores Briana Corace (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) and Casey Shimborske (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) all recorded a game-high-tying three goals. Senior Erin Dingman (Watertown, N.Y./Onondaga CC) and freshmen Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) and Juliana Keenan (Bethpage, N.Y./Plainedge) also scored and junior Mary Mackie (Bellport, N.Y./Bellport) had two assists. Keenan also added a game-high three caused turnovers and sophomore Emma Jacobsen (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) made six saves to pick up the win.

NYIT was led by Brooke Basso who had three goals and an assist. Ashley Miller played the first 13:30 in goal and made five saves to take the loss.

The Mavericks got off to a strong start, taking a 5-0 lead with 22:52 remaining in the first half. Sanchez and Isnardi opened the scoring and Dingman, Isnardi and Corace tallied three more goals to give Mercy an early five-goal lead.

NYIT answered with two goals to make it 5-2 at the 20:17 mark. However, the Mavericks battled back and ended the half with eight straight goals to take a 13-2 lead at halftime. Grzelaczyk, Sanchez and Shimborske scored to make it 8-2 with 16:30 left in the opening half. Corace netted two more goals, Shimborske added another and Sanchez and Keenan also scored to end the half.

The Bears scored the first five goals of the second half to get within, 13-7, with 4:19 remaining. Shimborske tallied her third goal of the day less than a minute later to make it 14-7 before NYIT netted two late goals to make it 14-9. However, the deficit proved too much to overcome and the Mavericks secured the Senior Day win.

Mercy held a 34-21 edge in shots, a 16-14 edge in ground balls and a 16-9 advantage in draw controls.