LAKELAND, Fla. (Mar. 19, 2025) – Despite a team-high two goals from senior Leah Hansen (Greenlawn, N.Y./Harborfields), junior Maeghan Callow (Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) and sophomore Riley Wallace (Islip, N.Y./Islip), the No. 23 Mercy University women's lacrosse team dropped a hard-fought 12-8 decision at No. 2 Florida Southern College on Wednesday night at Berend Field.
The Mavericks (3-4) have dropped three straight games with all three coming to teams ranked in the Top 20 nationally. Mercy falls to 0-5 all-time against the Mocs (10-0).
Mercy was led by Hansen, Callow and Wallace who each had a team-high two goals. Freshman Ashlinn Kelly (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) had a goal and two assists and freshman Kayden Meyer (Mastic, N.Y./William Floyd) also scored. Sophomore Juliana Talenti (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) had an assist and senior Lindsey Shimborske (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) had a game-high six ground balls, three caused turnovers and six draw controls. Junior Olivia LaMonica (Oak Ridge, N.J./Jefferson Township) made a game-high five saves to take the loss.
Florida Southern was led by Giana Murphy who had a game-high four goals and three assists. Rylie Rittberg made three saves to earn the win.
The game was scoreless until the 11:28 mark of the first quarter when Wallace scored a woman-down goal to give Mercy a 1-0 lead. A Hannah Hale goal with 9:15 left in the quarter tied the game at 1-1 before Hansen gave the Mavericks a 2-1 lead after a Talenti assist with 4:19 remaining in the quarter. A Murphy goal to end the quarter sent the teams into the second quarter tied at 2-2.
Murphy scored the first goal of the second quarter to give the Mocs a 3-2 lead with 11:19 left in the half. Back-to-back goals from Callow and Hansen gave the Mavericks a 4-3 lead at the 9:20 mark. Florida Southern scored goals at the 2:39 and 1:24 mark to take a 5-4 lead before a Kelly goal with 50 seconds on the clock sent the teams into halftime tied at 5-5.
The hosts recorded the first two goals of the third quarter to take a 7-5 lead with 10:56 left in the quarter. A Meyer woman-up free position goal made it 7-6 just over a minute later. The Mocs scored the next two goals to take a 9-6 lead at the 6:34 mark, forcing a Mercy timeout. Out of the timeout, Callow scored with 4:59 on the clock to make it 9-7 and the Mavericks headed into the fourth quarter down, 9-7.
Wallace opened the scoring in the fourth quarter, off a Kelly assist, to get the Mavericks to within one, 9-8, at the 11:38 mark. Florida Southern went on to score the final three goals of the game to earn the 12-8 win.
Florida Southern held a 27-14 edge in shots, a 19-16 edge in ground balls and a 14-9 edge in draw controls.
Head Coach Dawn Sachs and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, March 26th when they play at Jefferson at 3 p.m.
