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Saints women's lacrosse top Rochester, earn weekend sweep

Posted 4/6/14

The St. Lawrence University women's lacrosse team earned a weekend sweep on Saturday, as the Saints scored four consecutive goals in the second half en route to an 8-5 victory over the University of …

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Saints women's lacrosse top Rochester, earn weekend sweep

Posted

The St. Lawrence University women's lacrosse team earned a weekend sweep on Saturday, as the Saints scored four consecutive goals in the second half en route to an 8-5 victory over the University of Rochester at Hall-Leet Stadium. Addie Cunningham made a career-high 19 saves for the home team, while senior Carly VanTassel had a game-high four goals.

St. Lawrence improves to 4-5 (2-2) after the weekend sweep of RIT and Rochester, while the Yellowjackets are now 5-3 (1-2). The visitors finished with a 26-22 edge in shots and an 8-7 lead in draw controls, while St. Lawrence held a narrow 21-16 lead in ground balls. Both team struggled turning the ball over in cold and windy conditions, as the Saints were 7-of-16 in clears while Rochester was 12-for-18.

"Despite a slow start, we were very happy with the way the team responded under the cold and blustery conditions," said St. Lawrence head coach Jodi Canfield. "The transition game was very difficult today but we made good adjustments at intermission that helped us earn the victory."

Regina Rogers and Parker Benedict helped anchor the home team's defense with three caused turnovers each, while the Yellowjackets were led by Kathryn Maisch's game-high six caused turnovers. Marissa Traina made six saves in the loss for Rochester, which was led offensively by Cassie Mahar and Elisabeth Watson who each had two goals.

Rochester struck with back-to-back goals from Mara Karpp and Cassie Mahar in the first half for a 2-0 lead 10:44 into regulation. However, despite a slow offensive start, the Saints rallied with a three-goal run to claim the lead at 17:20. VanTassel got her team on the board, while Kiera Taussig and Michaela Maybee followed as the Saints needed only 1:49 to take a 3-2 lead.

Watson would level the scoring at 3-3 before halftime, but VanTassel needed only 36 seconds into the second half to put the Scarlet and Brown back on top, 4-3. Mahar would respond with a goal at 11:33 to once again tie the score at 4-4.

St. Lawrence would prove to be the more aggressive team in the latter stages of the second period, and their play paid off with a four-goal run to seize control up 8-4. VanTassel completed the hat trick for a 5-4 lead before Knapp scored perhaps the biggest goal of the game on a free position shot. The Glens Falls, NY native faked to the right and ripped a high shot under the cross bar past Traina for the Saints' first two-goal lead of the game, 6-4.

Abigail Owens and VanTassel would round out the run, giving the home team a comfortable 8-4 lead with 5:01 remaining. Rochester simply couldn't solve Cunningham throughout the second half, as she turned in big save after big save to clamp down and earn the win. Watson would cap the game scoring on a free position in the final minute to bring the game to its final of 8-5.

St. Lawrence will host Geneseo State on Friday, April 11 in a non-conference game at 4:00pm before resuming conference play on April 15 at Clarkson.