LAKELAND, Fla. (Mar. 16, 2023) – Despite a team-high four goals from graduate student Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford), the No. 13/14 Mercy College women's lacrosse team dropped a hard-fought 16-13 decision to No. 2/3 Florida Southern College on Thursday night at Berend Field.
The Mavericks (3-3) fall to .500 on the year and fall to 0-3 all-time against the Mocs (8-0).
Grzelaczyk had four goals and three draw controls and graduate student Jaclyn Grzelaczyk (Seaford, N.Y./New York Tech) had two goals and a game-high three assists. Sophomore Leena Moussa (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) netted three goals and graduate student Emma Rippon (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Iona University) had a goal and an assist. Senior Erin Shimborske (Farmingdale, N.Y./Adelphi University) had a goal, three ground balls and a game-high four caused turnovers. Junior Christina Lopreato (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) and sophomore Leah Hansen (Greenlawn, N.Y./Harborfields) also scored and graduate student Micayla Brady (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) had an assist, a game-high five ground balls to go along with two caused turnovers. Junior Kelly Rosenfeld (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) added an assist and sophomore Lindsey Shimborske (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) had three ground balls, two caused turnovers and two draw controls. Junior Olivia Maute (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Hills) made five saves to take the loss.
Florida Southern was led by Hailey Daleo who had a game-high five goals. Rylie Rittberg made one save to earn the win.
The game remained scoreless until the 10:23 mark of the first quarter when Erin Shimborske scored to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead. Florida Southern answered with two straight goals to take a 2-1 lead with 8:22 left in the quarter. Three straight goals from Jaclyn Grzelaczyk, Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk and Hansen gave Mercy a 4-2 lead with 4:30 on the clock. A Lizzy Lynch goal cut Mercy's lead to 4-3 after the first quarter.
Jackie Stoller found the back of the net for the Mocs at the 14:09 mark of the second quarter to tie the game at 4-4. Two goals from Moussa and another from Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk gave the Mavericks their largest lead of the game, 7-4, with nine minutes left in the half. Florida Southern rallied with four straight goals to take an 8-7 lead with 2:51 on the clock. The Mavericks won the ensuing draw control and Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk finished it herself just 16 seconds after the Mocs scored, tying the game at 8-8. Neither team scored in the final two minutes of the half, sending the teams into halftime tied at 8-8.
Lopreato gave the Mavericks the lead back just over a minute into the third quarter to make it 9-8. Jaclyn Grzelaczyk later made it 10-8, following an assist from Rippon, with 8:17 on the clock. The Mocs batted back with two straight goals to tie the game again at 10-10. Moussa put the Mavericks back in front with her third goal of the day at the 5:02 mark. Florida Southern rattled off back-to-back goals to retake the lead at 12-11 with 19 seconds on the clock. However, Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk scored the tying goal with four seconds on the clock, following an assist from her sister Jaclyn, to make it 12-12 after three quarters.
Florida Southern scored the first four goals of the fourth quarter to take a 16-12 lead with 1:53 left. A Rippon goal from Jaclyn Grzelaczyk with 1:19 on the clock made it 16-13. However, time would run out on the Mavericks and the Mocs earned the 16-13 win.
Mercy held a 28-26 edge in shots and a 25-22 edge in ground balls. Florida Southern held a 16-15 edge in draw controls.
Head Coach Dawn Sachs and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, March 18th when they play at No. 4/9 Tampa at 8 p.m.
