PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Mar. 26, 2025) – Powered by a career-high four goals and five points from freshman Ashlinn Kelly (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) and a game-high 11 saves from junior Olivia LaMonica (Oak Ridge, N.J./Jefferson Township), the No. 23 Mercy University women's lacrosse team earned a 13-11 win at Jefferson University on Wednesday afternoon at Ravenhill Field.
The Mavericks (4-4) snap a three-game losing streak and defeat the Rams (4-6) for the ninth straight time.
Mercy was led by Kelly who had a game-high-tying four goals with one assist, four ground balls and a game-high-tying three caused turnovers. Sophomore Juliana Talenti (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) added two goals, three assists, five ground balls and two caused turnovers and sophomore Riley Wallace (Islip, N.Y./Islip) scored three goals. Senior Leah Hansen (Greenlawn, N.Y./Harborfields) had two goals and an assist and freshman Kayden Meyer (Mastic, N.Y./William Floyd) had two goals. Senior Lindsey Shimborske (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) had a game-high nine draw controls with three ground balls. LaMonica made a season-high-tying 11 saves to earn the win.
Jefferson was led by Gabby Modzelewski who had a game-high seven points on four goals and three assists. Kalyn Ammerlaan made eight saves to take the loss.
Wallace opened the scoring less than a minute into the first quarter to give Mercy a 1-0 lead. Talenti later made it 2-0 at the 7:00 mark before Hansen gave the Mavericks a 3-0 lead after a Talenti assist with 4:38 left in the quarter. Meyer and Talenti scored back-to-back goals to close the quarter, giving Mercy a 5-0 lead after the first quarter.
A Kelly goal to open the second quarter gave the Mavericks a 6-0 lead with 14:18 left in the second quarter. Meaghan Avanzato got the Rams on the scoreboard at the 13:37 mark to make it 6-1. A Kelly goal from Talenti gave Mercy a 7-1 lead with 11:42 remaining in the half. Jefferson scored three goals in a row to make it 7-4 with 7:40 on the clock, leading to a Mercy timeout. Wallace ended the Jefferson run with a goal at the 4:38 mark to make it 8-4. Back-to-back goals from Modzelewski made it 8-6 before a late Hansen goal gave the Mavericks a 9-6 lead at halftime.
Jefferson scored the first two goals of the third quarter to make it 9-8 at the 9:33 mark. Meyer scored with 5:42 on the clock to give Mercy a 10-8 lead. The Rams recorded the final three goals of the quarter to take an 11-10 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
Kelly tied the game at 11-11 with 12:51 remaining and Wallace gave the Mavericks the lead for good when she scored on a free position shot to make it 12-11 with 11:37 left. Kelly scored Mercy's final goal at the 9:29 mark to give the Mavericks a 13-11 lead. LaMonica made three saves to keep the Rams from scoring and the Mercy defense held Jefferson scoreless for the entire fourth quarter to earn the 13-11 road win.
Mercy held a 32-27 edge in shots, a 20-18 edge in shots on goal, a 21-15 edge in ground balls and Jefferson held a 15-13 edge in draw controls.
Head Coach Dawn Sachs and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday when they host Daemen for Senior Day at 11 a.m.
