The St. Lawrence University women's lacrosse team seized control against the University of Rochester behind a nine-goal run to open the second half en route to a 14-6 win at Hall-Leet Stadium in Canton, NY on Friday evening. Junior Stephanie O'Rourke had a game-high four goals to pace the Scarlet and Brown.

The win moves St. Lawrence to 6-4 (3-1) and sets up a big Liberty League game against RIT tomorrow in Canton. Meanwhile, Rochester falls to 2-8 (1-4) after being outshot 31-18 and losing the draw control battle 15-7.

"We struggled to find our rhythm on offense in the first half, and they were able to really slow us down," said St. Lawrence head coach Dr. Jodi Canfield. "I was very pleased with the way we responded coming out of halftime knowing we needed to control the tempo to get the win."

Though St. Lawrence opened with two goals in the first 2:02 of regulation, Rochester was able to slow down the pace of play in the opening stanza and remain in the game at intermission. Trailing 4-1 with 9:56 to play in the half, the Yellowjackets pulled within one thanks to goals by Sarah Skinner and Lindsey Randall.

Rochester appeared the tie the game at 4-4 in the final minute of the first half, as Bridget Hannon scored on senior goaltender Paige Powell. However, the whistle had already blown, giving Hannon a free position shot, which Powell stopped on the ensuing possession to keep St. Lawrence ahead by one at the half.

The Saints were able to push the pace in the second half, and opened with nine goals to put the game away. Co-captain Margie Bailey opened the scoring at 1:48, with O'Rourke following with two straight tallies. Co-captains Alanna Piroli and Kendall Harty, juniors Brigid Hurley, Joey Kelley and O'Rourke and sophomore Carly VanTassel then followed to push the advantage to 10 at 13-3 with 15:54 remaining.

Rochester's Niki Holmes would end the run with 8:14 left, but Hurley answered for a 14-4 cushion. The Yellowjackets would add a pair of goals in the final 2:00 minutes to bring the score to the 14-6 final.

Holmes closed with two goals for Rochester, while Piroli had two goals and a helper for St. Lawrence. Powell finished with five saves for the home team, while rookie Adden Cunningham made one stop in relief. Meanwhile, Rochester netminder Maddie Elia made seven stops in the loss. Bailey finished with a game-high four draw controls, while junior Holly Noyes added three.

St. Lawrence and RIT will square off for the first time in conference play tomorrow, Saturday, April 14 at 2:00pm.