DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 23, 2020) – For the sixth year in a row, Mercy College Athletics will recap the year by counting down the Top-10 most memorable moments of the 2019-20 season, with all 10 sports represented.
Mercy College Athletics will release a Top-10 moment, as chosen by the athletics staff, with a recap every Thursday for the next ten weeks, culminating with the top moment from the 2019-20 athletic year being unveiled on Thursday, June 11th.
No. 8 – Women's Lacrosse Defeats No. 18 Bentley in Final Seconds on the Road
Coming in at No. 8 in our 2019-20 Top-10 Moments is women's lacrosse who defeated No. 18 Bentley in the final seconds on February 29th.
Mercy opened up their 2020 season on February 21st with a 12-6 win over Southern New Hampshire, heading into the matchup with No. 18 Bentley at 1-0. After the win, sophomore Madeline Garvalosa was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week after making a career-high 18 saves in her first collegiate start.
The Falcons also stood at 1-0 entering the game on February 29th. Bentley had defeated Mercy in overtime last year at Mercy Field and the Mavericks looked to get revenge in 2020.
The Mavericks opened the scoring with three straight goals to take a 3-0 lead with 21:36 left in the first half. Senior Katherine Sanchez scored twice and junior Casey Shimborske added another to give the Mavericks an early lead. Bentley followed with two goals to get within, 3-2, with 19:20 left in the first half.
Sanchez made it 4-2 after a free position goal at the 18:27 mark, but the hosts closed the half with two goals in the final 2:30 of action to head into halftime tied with Mercy at 4-4.
Sanchez netted another goal at the 26:41 mark of the second half to give Mercy a 5-4. The Falcons answered with three straight goals to take their largest lead of the game, 7-5, with 21:34 left in regulation. Sanchez and junior Briana Corace tied the game up at 7-7 with 17:54 on the clock following back-to-back goals.
A Bentley goal at the 11:46 mark gave the lead back to the hosts at 8-7. Sanchez continued her strong play and responded with two more goals to put Mercy back in front, 9-8, with 7:01 remaining. A Glenna Gies goal for the Falcons tied the game up again at 9-9 with six minutes left.
The score remained 9-9 heading into the final minute of play. The Falcons drew a free position attempt with 50 seconds on the clock, but Garvalosa came up with a huge save on Gies to keep the game tied. Mercy was able to clear the ball and sophomore Taylor Bishop took the ball from behind the net and drove to the front where she finished on the right side to put the Mavericks up 10-9 with six seconds on the clock.
Bentley won the ensuing draw control and drew a free position attempt with two seconds left. However, the Gies shot hit the post, giving Mercy the win. The win gave the Mavericks their fifth straight 2-0 start to a season.
The Mavericks were led by Sanchez who had a game-high seven goals and five draw controls. Bishop had a goal and an assist with two ground balls. Shimborske had a goal and an assist and Corace had a goal. Senior Talia Stagnitta led the defense with two caused turnovers and three ground balls and Garvalosa made eight saves to earn the win.
After the win, the Mavericks sat at No. 11 nationally in the IWLCA Poll and Sanchez was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week.
Mercy later improved to 3-0 on the year when Corace had a game-high four goals and five points to lead the Mavericks to a 13-9 win over Jefferson on March 4th.
The Mavericks then hosted No. 1 Le Moyne on March 7th where they battled the No. 1 team in the country before falling 14-9. Mercy trailed 4-1 early on before rallying to take a 6-5 lead with 13:01 left in the first half. The score was tied at 6-6 at halftime before Le Moyne started the second half with five straight goals to pull away for the win. During the game, Sanchez recorded her 200th career point becoming just the fourth player in program history to reach the mark.
Following the Jefferson and Le Moyne games, Corace, senior Brittani Sergio and sophomore Micayla Brady were tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll.
Mercy headed down to Florida for what they thought would be two games. However, due to COVID-19 the Mavericks would play just one game before the rest of the season was cancelled. Mercy took on No. 25 Florida Tech on March 11th and were led by Sanchez who had a game-high four goals in leading the Mavericks to a 10-3 win. Mercy improved to 4-1 on the year and defeated their second nationally-ranked opponent. The three goals allowed were the fewest allowed to a nationally-ranked opponent in program history and the three goals scored by Florida Tech were their fewest scored in a game in program history.
The Mavericks ended the season ranked No. 11 nationally in the final IWLCA Poll and Garvalosa, Brady, Stagnitta and Sanchez were recognized by the Long Island Lacrosse Journal as part of their lists of top collegiate sophomores and seniors.
Despite the cancellation of the season due to COVID-19, the future looks bright with several key pieces returning for 2021.
Schedule for the Top-10 Moments of the 2019-20 Season
Every Thursday for the next ten weeks, the Mercy College Athletics Department will release the Top-10 moments one at a time beginning with the No. 10 moment on Thursday, April 9th. The No. 1 moment will be unveiled on Thursday, June 11th.
No. 1 – June 11th
No. 2 – June 4th
No. 3 – May 28th
No. 4 – May 21st
No. 5 – May 14th
No. 6 – May 7th
No. 7 – April 30th
No. 8 – April 23rd
No. 9 – Softball Gets Off to Best Four-Game Start Since 2017
No. 10 – John Mooradian, Miguel Ortiz Sanchez and Anthony Murphy Reach Career Milestones and Move up in Baseball Record Book
