DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (July 29, 2022) – For the seventh year, Mercy College Athletics will recap the year by counting down the Top-10 most memorable moments of the 2021-22 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 Wednesday and Friday for the next five weeks, culminating with the top moment from the 2021-22 athletic year being unveiled on Friday, August 5th.
No. 3 – Women's Lacrosse Wins ECC Championship and Qualifies for NCAA Tournament
Coming in at No. 3 in our 2021-22 Top-10 Moments is women's lacrosse who won the ECC Regular Season and Tournament Championships and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the third straight time.
The Mavericks went 12-2 in 2021 and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight time. Mercy entered the 2022 season with high expectations as they were ranked No. 15 nationally in the ILWomen/IWLCA Preseason Top 25 Poll and were picked first in the ECC Preseason Poll. Micayla Brady was also tabbed ECC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
Mercy opened their 2022 season on February 24th at Lock Haven. Juliana Keenan at the time had a career-high seven points and Brady had a game-high six caused turnovers as the Mavericks earned a 14-7 win over the Bald Eagles. The victory gave Mercy their 10th straight season-opening win. Following her strong performance, Brady was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week and IWLCA Division II Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in 2022.
Head Coach Dawn Sachs and the Mavericks then headed to No. 3/4 Le Moyne on March 2nd. Mercy held their own against the Dolphins with Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk scoring a go-ahead goal with 4:46 remaining to give the Mavericks a 9-8 lead. However, Le Moyne netted two goals in the final minute of play to earn the 10-9 victory.
The Mavericks regrouped and returned to Dobbs Ferry where they hosted Franklin Pierce in their home opener on March 5th. Nine different Mavericks scored, headlined by a game-high-tying five points from Kerri Cummings and Keenan, as Mercy earned a convincing 18-7 win over the Ravens to improve to 2-1 on the year. The Mavericks also moved to 12-1 all-time in home openers.
After the win over Franklin Pierce, the Mavericks moved up to No. 12 nationally in the ILWomen/IWLCA Top 25 Poll. Brady was also named ECC Defensive Player of the Week again. Mercy, playing their most difficult regular season schedule in recent memory, would then play at No. 9 Adelphi on March 9th. Taylor Bishop had a team-high four points as the Mavericks dropped an 11-6 decision to the nine-time National Champions. Mercy fell to 2-2 on the year and the five-goal loss was the smallest margin of defeat to Adelphi in three all-time meetings.
Mercy continued its stretch against nationally-ranked foes when they traveled to No. 21 Assumption on March 13th. Briana Corace recorded her 100th career goal and Keenan had a game-high four goals as the Mavericks moved over .500 with a 12-6 win over the Greyhounds. The win over Assumption was the program's first since 2017. Following the win, Lindsey Shimborske was tabbed ECC Rookie of the Week.
The Mavericks continued their winning ways on March 16th when they hosted Georgian Court in a HEADstrong Game. Bishop had a game-high five points and Corace had a game-high four goals as Mercy cruised to a 16-4 win to move to 4-2 on the year.
Sachs and the Mavericks faced another tall task taking on a No. 14 Bentley team on March 19th. Keenan had a game-high five points, including the game-winning goal, and Madeline Garvalosa made a then season-high 12 saves as Mercy earned an 11-9 win over the Falcons to earn their third straight win. In the win, Brady set a new school record in career caused turnovers with 117 in just 46 games, surpassing the previous record of 116 set by Talia Stagnitta in 2020.
Following the pair of wins, the Mavericks inched up to No. 11 in the ILWomen/IWLCA Poll. Garvalosa was also tabbed ECC Defensive Player of the Week for the first time after her strong game against Bentley. Mercy began ECC play on March 26th against UDC. Leah Hansen had a career-high and game-high seven points as the Mavericks earned an impressive 20-2 win over the Firebirds to move to 6-2 on the year. 11 different Mavericks would score in the win.
Mercy's four-game winning streak would come to an end on April 1st when they dropped a hard-fought 14-13 decision on the road to Bloomsburg. Keenan had a game-high-tying five points, but the Mavericks saw their winning streak come to an end.
The Mavericks faced another nationally-ranked foe on April 6th in West Chester. Corace had a team-high four goals, but it was not enough as the Golden Rams earned a 21-12 win over the Mavericks. Mercy regrouped and got back in the win column on April 10th when they earned a 14-4 win over D'Youville. Corace and Keenan combined for nine goals in the victory as the win gave Sachs her 100th career win as head coach at Mercy. Sachs is the winningest coach in program history and her career record sat at 100-56 after the win.
Mercy continued to dominate ECC competition as they earned an 18-6 win over Molloy on April 13th to improve to 8-4 overall and 3-0 in ECC play. Kelly Rosenfeld had a career-high and game-high five goals and Garvalosa made a game-high 12 saves as the Mavericks defeated the Lions for the eighth straight time.
Sachs and the Mavericks later made it three wins in a row with a 13-10 victory over Jefferson on April 16th. Mercy celebrated Senior Day and First Responders Day and were led by Keenan who had a game-high four goals and by Garvalosa who had a game-high 13 saves. In a ceremony prior to the game, Cummings, Erin Chalich, Bishop, Corace, Grzelaczyk, Brady, Alexandra Bigilin, Keenan, Hunter Savino, Katie Jelliffe, Kayla Reese and Garvalosa were recognized.
After the win over Jefferson, Garvalosa was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week and Shimborske was tabbed Rookie of the Week. The Mavericks were ranked fifth in the first NCAA Regional Rankings released on April 20th. In a rematch of last year's ECC Championship Game, the Mavericks played at No. 19 Roberts Wesleyan on April 23rd. The Redhawks jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but Mercy battled back and came away with a 14-11 win. The win secured a spot in the ECC Championship for the Mavericks for the sixth straight season. Bishop had a game-high five goals in the win, including her 100th career point. Keenan also recorded her 100th career draw control and Garvalosa made her 200th career save to earn the win.
Following the big win over Roberts Wesleyan, Bishop was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week, Garvalosa was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week and Shimborske was named Rookie of the Week. The Mavericks moved to 11-4 overall and 5-0 in ECC play on April 26th with a convincing 19-4 win over Bridgeport. Corace had a career-high-tying five goals in the win and Shimborske had five draw controls and one caused turnover.
The Mavericks were still ranked fifth in the NCAA Regional Rankings with four teams making it in the East Region, as they played their regular season finale at STAC on April 30th. Keenan had a team-high six points and Shimborske added her first collegiate goal and four ground balls, as Mercy had no problems with the Spartans, earning a 21-9 win to end the regular season with a 12-4 record overall and 6-0 mark in ECC play. The Mavericks closed out the regular season with six straight wins and won the ECC Regular Season Championship for the third straight season. Mercy earned the top seed in the following week's ECC Championship and would host No. 4 seed D'Youville in a Semifinal on May 5th.
After the win over STAC, Keenan was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week and Garvalosa was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week. In the final regular season NCAA Regional Rankings, the Mavericks were ranked fourth heading into the ECC Championship. Mercy faced ECC Championship newcomer D'Youville in the Semifinals and earned a 19-7 win, aided by 10 different Mavericks scoring, to advance to the Final for the fifth straight time. Keenan led the way with a game-high six points on four goals and two assists and Shimborske had a goal, six ground balls, five caused turnovers and six draw controls.
In the Final the Mavericks would face a Roberts Wesleyan team that they lost in the Final to a year ago. Mercy had beaten the Redhawks in the regular season on the road and looked to win their second ECC Championship in three seasons. Prior to the game, Savanna Spadalik was presented the ECC Elite 19 Award for women's lacrosse. The award is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA on teams competing in the ECC Championship.
The game remained scoreless until the 9:58 mark of the opening quarter when Corace found the back of the net, off a pass from Rosenfeld, to make it 1-0. Keenan later made it 2-0 with a free position goal with 8:35 on the clock. Madison Bell got the Redhawks on the scoreboard at the 7:02 mark to make it 2-1. Corace scored the final goal of the quarter, off an assist from Rosenfeld, to give Mercy a 3-1 lead after one quarter of play.
Lindsey Brinkel and Alexis Grant opened the scoring in the second quarter to tie the game at 3-3. Cummings gave the Mavericks the lead back just 22 seconds later, following a pass from Grzelaczyk, to make it 4-3 with 9:36 left in the half. Bell tied the game at 4-4 shortly after with a free position goal. The Mavericks rallied with five straight goals to take a 9-4 lead with three minutes remaining in the quarter. Rosenfeld and Corace scored twice and Keenan also scored to give Mercy a five-goal lead. The Redhawks scored the final two goals of the half to head into halftime down, 9-6.
Bell scored the first goal of the third quarter to make it 9-7. Corace, Keenan and Lopreato put an end to any Roberts Wesleyan momentum with three straight goals to make it 12-7 with 6:58 left in the quarter. Brinkel and Bishop traded goals to make it 13-8 before Bell found the back of the net again to make it 13-9. Bishop and Bell exchanged free position goals to close out the quarter, giving Mercy a 14-10 lead after three quarters.
Grzelaczyk made it 15-10 at the 12:46 mark of the fourth quarter. Grant later made it 15-11 before Bishop and Keenan tallied back-to-back goals to give Mercy a 17-11 lead. Brinkel scored the final Redhawks goal at the 9:01 mark to make it 17-12. Cummings and Keenan finished off the scoring to give the Mavericks the 19-12 win and their second ECC Championship.
Keenan had a career-high eight points in the win and Corace was named the Championship's Most Outstanding Player in a ceremony after the game after scoring five goals. Mercy sat at 14-4 and had won eight games in a row entering the NCAA Tournament selection show. The Mavericks looked to have done enough to earn the program's fourth NCAA Tournament bid and the NCAA Committee agreed, rewarding Mercy with the No. 4 seed in the East Region. The berth was the program's fourth overall and third straight. The Mavericks would face top seed Stonehill on the road on May 13th.
Mercy had never faced Stonehill before, but the matchup certainly did live up to expectations. Grzelaczyk made it 1-0 with her first of the day at the 12:05 mark of the first quarter. The Mavericks would tack on four more goals to take a 5-0 lead with 7:47 left in the quarter. Hansen netted the second Mercy goal before Keenan recorded back-to-back goals and Grzelaczyk added another to make it 5-0. Back-to-back goals from Lilly Leach made it 5-2 with five minutes left in the quarter. Rosenfeld and Corace answered with two straight goals to give the Mavericks a 7-2 lead at the 3:22 mark. Stonehill closed the quarter with three straight goals to head into the second quarter down, 7-5.
Rosenfeld scored the first goal of the second quarter to give Mercy an 8-5 lead with 9:20 left in the half. The Skyhawks closed the quarter with six straight goals to take an 11-8 lead at halftime.
Emma Sullivan made it 12-8 with 9:58 left in the third quarter. Lopreato, Bishop and Keenan rattled off three straight goals to cut the Stonehill lead to one, 12-11, with three minutes left in the quarter. Kayla Conway and Corace traded goals to close out the quarter, giving Stonehill a 13-12 lead after three quarters.
Keenan tied the game at 13-13 with 9:53 to play. Stonehill responded with five straight goals to take an 18-13 lead with 7:18 left, leading to a Mercy timeout. The Skyhawks looked to have the game well in hand, but the Mavericks would not go away quietly. Rosenfeld made it 18-14 with 5:10 on the clock and Grzelaczyk and Rosenfeld found the back of the net again in a span of under a minute to cut Stonehill's lead to 18-16 with 3:34 left. Keenan got the Mavericks to within one, 18-17, with 51 seconds left after a woman-up free-position goal. Mercy had a chance to tie with 10 seconds left but Faley made a final save on a Lopreato shot to give Stonehill the win.
Keenan had a game-high-tying five goals and Brady had a game-high eight caused turnovers as the Mavericks season came to an end with the hard-fought loss to the Skyhawks. Mercy ended their season with 14-5 record.
Due to the Mavericks success, the season-ending awards began to pile up with a school-record-tying 12 Mavericks being named to the ECC All-Conference Teams. Brady was named Defender of the Year, Garvalosa was tabbed Goalkeeper of the Year, Shimborske earned Rookie of the Year and Sachs took home Coach of the Year for the fourth time in her career. Brady, Garvalosa, Shimborske, Keenan, Bishop and Rosenfeld were named First Team All-ECC and Corace, Cummings, Grzelaczyk, Bigilin, Erin Shimborske and Christina Lopreato were tabbed Second Team All-ECC.
The awards did not stop there as Garvalosa, Brady, Keenan and Shimborske were named to the IWLCA All-Region Teams and Garvalosa was named IWLCA Second Team All-American. Garvalosa was also named USA Lacrosse Magazine Second Team All-American and Brady was named to the Third Team.
The Mavericks ended the season ranked No. 12 nationally in the final IWLCA Poll and Garvalosa and Keenan played in the IWLCA Division II Senior All-Star Game. Mercy also excelled in the classroom, posting above a 3.2 GPA to earn the IWLCA Academic Honor Squad award. 10 Mavericks were also named to the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll and 25 were tabbed to the ECC Commissioner's Honor Roll.
Mercy will look to win the ECC Championship for the third time and qualify for the NCAA Tournament again in 2023.
Schedule for the Top-10 Moments of the 2021-22 Season
Every Wednesday and Friday for the next five weeks, the Mercy College Athletic Department will release the Top-10 moments one at a time beginning with the No. 10 moment on Wednesday, July 6th. The No. 1 moment will be unveiled on Friday, August 5th.
No. 1 - August 5th
No. 2 - August 3rd
No. 3 - July 29th
No. 4 - Women's Basketball Makes ECC Championship and Wins Most Games Since 1997
No. 5 - Baseball Qualifies for ECC Championship for Second Straight Season
No. 6 - Volleyball Makes ECC Championship for Second Straight Season
No. 7 - Softball Makes ECC Championship for Second Straight Year
No. 8 - Men's Soccer Nearly Qualifies for ECC Championship
No. 9 - Field Hockey Wins at No. 9 American International
No. 10 – Men's Basketball Sweeps Molloy for First Time Since 2005
