PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Apr. 2, 2021) – Powered by a career-high four goals from junior Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford), the No. 16 Mercy College women's lacrosse team earned a 14-4 victory over Jefferson University on Friday afternoon.

The Mavericks (4-1) have won two games in a row, while the Rams (3-1) suffer their first loss of the season.

Grzelaczyk added an assist and junior Taylor Bishop (West Milford, N.J./West Milford) had three goals and one assist. Senior Briana Corace (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) scored three goals and junior Erin Chalich (Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) added two goals and an assist. Junior Juliana Keenan (Bethpage, N.Y./Plainedge) and sophomore Erin Shimborske (Farmingdale, N.Y./Adelphi University) also scored and juniors Kerri Cummings (Islip, N.Y./Islip) and Kayla Reese (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) and freshman Christina Lopreato (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) each contributed an assist. Senior Kellie Znaniecki (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) added a team-high five draw controls with three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Senior Emma Jacobsen (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) made five saves in the first half to earn the win.

Jefferson was led by Erin Avanzato who had a team-high two goals. Melanie Goldstein played the first 14:37 minutes in goal and made one save to take the loss.

The Rams scored first at the 28:45 mark of the first half to take a 1-0 lead. Mercy responded with nine straight goals to close out the half, taking a 9-1 lead into halftime. Grzelaczyk scored the Mavericks first goal of the game with 28:06 on the clock and added three more goals in the half. Bishop netted two goals and Corace, Shimborske and Chalich each recorded goals to give Mercy a commanding lead at halftime.

Bishop opened the scoring in the second half to give Mercy a 10-1 lead at the 22:38 mark. Avanzato netted her first goal just over four minutes later to make it 10-2. Corace then tallied back-to-back goals to put Mercy up 12-2 with 15:14 left. Keenan and Chalich continued the run with back-to-back goals to give Mercy a 14-2 advantage. Jefferson scored the game's final two goals but it was not enough as Mercy came away with the win.

Mercy held a 25-13 edge in shots and a 26-13 edge in ground balls. Jefferson held a 12-7 edge in draw controls.

The Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, April 7th when they host Bridgeport at 4 p.m.