DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 10, 2021) – Powered by a career-high five goals from junior Taylor Bishop (West Milford, N.J./West Milford), the No. 14 Mercy College women's lacrosse team earned an 18-6 victory over ECC foe St. Thomas Aquinas in their 2021 season opener on Wednesday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (1-0, 1-0 ECC) open their season with a win, while the Spartans (0-1, 0-1 ECC) fall in their season opener.
Bishop had a game-high five goals on eight shots with one ground ball and graduate student Mary Mackie (Bellport, N.Y./Bellport) had three goals, one assist, two ground balls and two draw controls. Junior Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) posted two goals and two assists and senior Briana Corace (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) and sophomore Sydney Corley (Coram, N.Y./Newfield) had two goals. Freshmen Kelly Rosenfeld (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and Ally Schreck (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) both scored their first collegiate goals and added an assist. Freshman Christina Lopreato (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) also scored her first college goal and sophomore Erin Shimborske (Farmingdale, N.Y./Adelphi University) added a goal. Junior Erin Chalich (Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) dished out a game-high four assists, junior Kerri Cummings (Islip, N.Y./Islip) had two assists and junior Kayla Reese (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) had one assist. Junior Juliana Keenan (Bethpage, N.Y./Plainedge) had a game-high six draw controls with a game-high-tying three caused turnovers. Junior Micayla Brady (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) also had three caused turnovers and added four ground balls. Senior Kellie Znaniecki (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) had a game-high five ground balls with five draw controls and two caused turnovers. Senior Emma Jacobsen (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) played the first half in goal and made five saves to earn the win.
St. Thomas Aquinas was led by Danielle Cajou who had a team-high three points on two goals and one assist. Laura Delorenzo made 14 saves to take the loss.
Mercy was playing their first game in 364 days due to COVID-19 and got off to a good start as Bishop scored just over a minute in to make it 1-0. Mackie and Bishop followed with back-to-back goals to put the Mavericks up 3-0 less than 10 minutes into the game at the 21:58 mark.
Shimborske made it 4-0 with 19:47 left in the half before the Spartans got on the board just under 20 seconds later to make it 4-1. Lopreato netted the first goal of her career off an assist from Chalich at the 15:45 mark which made it 5-1. Cajou scored her first goal of the game with 14 minutes left to make it 5-2 before Bishop and Corace tallied back-to-back goals to give Mercy a 7-2 lead with eight minutes left in the half.
The Spartans inched closer with a goal with just under seven minutes left, but Mackie and Corley ended the half with two straight goals to put Mercy up 9-3 at halftime.
Bishop and Mackie opened the scoring in the second half to give the Mavericks an 11-3 lead with 28:32 left to play. A St. Thomas Aquinas goal made it 11-4 before four straight Mercy goals gave the Mavericks a 15-4 advantage with 23:02 on the clock. Grzelaczyk scored the first two goals and Rosenfeld and Corley also scored to give Mercy a double-digit lead.
Schreck got in the scoring column for the first time in her career at the 13:54 mark, following a Spartan goal, which gave Mercy a 16-5 lead. Corace and Bishop tallied the final two goals for the Mavericks to finish off the win.
Mercy held a 37-17 edge in shots, a 22-11 edge in ground balls and 16-10 advantage in draw controls.
Head Coach Dawn Sachs and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, March 17th when they host Caldwell at 3 p.m.
