ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Apr. 23, 2022) – Powered by a game-high five goals from senior Taylor Bishop (West Milford, N.J./West Milford), the No. 16 Mercy College women's lacrosse team earned a 14-11 come-from-behind victory over ECC foe No. 19 Roberts Wesleyan College on Saturday afternoon at Redhawks Field.
The Mavericks (10-4, 4-0 ECC) have won four games in a row and secure a spot in the ECC Tournament for the sixth straight season. The Redhawks (8-5, 4-1 ECC) suffer their first ECC loss of the season.
Bishop had a game-high five goals and recorded her 100th career point. Senior Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) had two goals and three assists and senior Kerri Cummings (Islip, N.Y./Islip) had two goals and two assists. Senior Juliana Keenan (Bethpage, N.Y./Plainedge) had two goals and recorded her 100th career draw control. Junior Erin Shimborske (Farmingdale, N.Y./Adelphi University) had two goals and graduate student Briana Corace (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) had a goal and an assist. Sophomore Kelly Rosenfeld (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) had three assists and freshman Lindsey Shimborske (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) had four draw controls and two caused turnovers. Senior Madeline Garvalosa (Seaford, N.Y./St. Anthony's) made nine saves, including her 200th career save, to earn the win.
Roberts Wesleyan was led by Lindsey Brinkel who had a team-high five points on three goals and two assists.
The Redhawks jumped out to a 5-1 lead with 5:46 left in the first quarter with the lone Mercy goal coming from Keenan. After a Maverick timeout, Corace and Grzelaczyk closed the quarter with back-to-back goals to cut the hosts lead to 5-3 after one quarter.
Roberts Wesleyan scored the first two goals of the second quarter to take a 7-3 lead with 9:37 left in the half. Cummings and Bishop recorded two straight goals to close out the quarter, cutting the Redhawks lead to 7-5 at halftime.
Bishop and Keenan scored quick goals to open the third quarter, tying the game at 7-7 with 12:46 on the clock. A Caitlin Harding goal gave the hosts an 8-7 lead, but Bishop had an answer and tied the game at 8-8 with 6:51 on the clock. Roberts Wesleyan netted the next two goals to take a 10-8 lead with 5:22 on the clock. The Redhawks looked to be pulling away, but Erin Shimborske scored back-to-back goals before the end of the quarter to tie the game at 10-10 after three quarters.
Bishop and Brinkel traded goals to make it 11-11 with 12:06 left. Cummings scored the go-ahead goal with 10:16 left, off an assist from Grzelaczyk, to make it 12-11. Bishop and Grzelaczyk tacked on insurance goals to give Mercy a 14-11 lead. The Mavericks defense would hold Roberts Wesleyan scoreless for the final 12:06 to preserve the win.
Mercy held a 29-27 edge in shots. Roberts Wesleyan held a 16-13 edge in draw controls and a 16-11 edge in ground balls.
Head Coach Dawn Sachs and the Mavericks resume action on Tuesday, April 26th when they host Bridgeport at 4 p.m.
