DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 7, 2024) – Despite a game-high five goals from junior Leah Hansen (Greenlawn, N.Y./Harborfields), the No. 17 Mercy University women's lacrosse team dropped a hard-fought 13-11 decision to No. 4 University of Tampa on Thursday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (1-3) have dropped two games in a row, while the Spartans (3-2) improved to 3-0 all-time against Mercy.
Mercy was led by Hansen who had a game-high five goals. Junior Leena Moussa (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) and graduate student Sydney Corley (Coram, N.Y./Newfield) each had two goals and sophomore Maeghan Callow (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) and freshman Riley Wallace (Islip, N.Y./Islip) also scored. Graduate student Erin Shimborske (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) had two assists and senior Kelly Rosenfeld (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) also had an assist. Freshman Juliana Talenti (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) had a team-high two caused turnovers and senior Christina Lopreato (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) had a team-high five draw controls. Senior Olivia Maute (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Hills) played the first half in goal and made one save. Sophomore Olivia LaMonica (Jefferson Township, N.J./Jefferson Township) made four saves in the second half to take the loss.
Tampa was led by Sarah Hinkle who had a team-high three goals. Alex Walling played the first half in goal and made four saves. Savvy Barbosa played the second half in goal and made eight saves to earn the win.
The Spartans scored the first four goals of the game to take a 4-0 lead with 6:57 left in the opening quarter, leading to a Mercy timeout. Following the timeout, Hansen and Corley scored back-to-back goals to make it 4-2 at the end of the first quarter.
Moussa, Corley, and Hansen scored the first three goals of the second quarter to give Mercy their first lead of the game, 5-4, with 8:27 left in the half. A Cece Colombo goal made it 5-5 before Hansen gave the Mavericks a 6-5 lead at the 6:27 mark. Peyton Howell scored the final goal of the quarter to send the teams into halftime tied at 6-6.
Hinkle and Callow traded goals to begin the third quarter bringing the score to 7-7 with 4:32 left in the quarter. Tampa scored the final three goals of the quarter in the final 1:24 to take a 10-7 lead after three quarters.
The Spartans scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter to take their largest lead of the game, 12-7, with 11:57 left. Three consecutive goals from Hansen, Moussa and Wallace cut the Tampa lead to two, 12-10, with 4:12 remaining. A Sophi Wrisk goal at the 1:28 mark made it 13-10 before Hansen scored her final goal of the game with 25 seconds left to make it 13-11. However, the Spartans won the ensuing draw control and ran out the clock to earn the 13-11 win.
Mercy held a 34-22 edge in shots, a 19-17 edge in ground balls and Tampa held a 15-13 edge in draw controls.
Head Coach Dawn Sachs and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, March 9th when they host No. 5 Florida Southern at 11 a.m.
