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Saints women's lax drop RIT 18-13, clinch spot in Liberty League Tournament

Posted 4/27/13

The St. Lawrence University women's lacrosse team won for the sixth time in seven games on Friday afternoon, as the Saints sprinted out to a 12-6 halftime lead en route to an 18-13 win over RIT in …

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Saints women's lax drop RIT 18-13, clinch spot in Liberty League Tournament

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The St. Lawrence University women's lacrosse team won for the sixth time in seven games on Friday afternoon, as the Saints sprinted out to a 12-6 halftime lead en route to an 18-13 win over RIT in Rochester, NY. The victory clinches a spot in the Liberty League Tournament for St. Lawrence, which was anchored by four-goal outings from Brigid Hurley, Stephanie O'Rourke and Hannah Calvelli.

Calvelli had scored four goals all season prior to Friday, but her play, along with Carly VanTassel's six point effort (2g,4a), gave the Saints (10-5, 6-2) all the offense they needed against the high-scoring Tigers (9-6, 4-4). Though RIT finished with a 34-29 lead in shots and a 22-11 edge in draw controls, sophomore goalie Adden Cunningham matched her career-high with 11 saves in the win.

"We played smart and solid and executed our game plan," said St. Lawrence head coach Jodi Canfield. "Addie (Cunningham) had a great game, and helped us quiet their momentum when we need to."

St. Lawrence played one of its best halves of the season in the opening 30:00 minutes, out-shooting RIT 20-15 en route to a six-goal lead at intermission. Though RIT's Shelby Vakiener, the league's leading scorer, scored only :16 seconds into regulation, the Saints responded with a six-goal run that spanned over 10 minutes. O'Rourke and Calvelli each scored twice in the run, which was capped with 17:12 to play until halftime with the visitors up 6-1.

Sage Sarkis would score one of her team-high four goals for RIT to make it 8-4 later in the stanza, but junior Tasha Cornell-Roberts followed with her first career goal for a 9-4 lead. St. Lawrence's lead would grow to 12-5 thanks to two more goals from Calvelli and another by O'Rourke, but RIT's Corrina Mandell capped the first half scoring in the final minute to keep the Tigers within six, 12-6.

RIT would pull to within four twice in the second half, including at 16-12 on a goal by Valkiener with 16:40 remaining. However, VanTassel and Mackenzie Collins answered to put the game away in the final stages, with Collins' fourth of the season coming with 4:21 to play on a set-up by VanTassel for an 18-12 lead. Vakiener's third of the game proved to be too-little-too-late, capping the game's scoring at 18-13 with 2:10 remaining.

With St. Lawrence struggling to win draw controls, Cunningham proved to be the difference-maker on Friday as she kept the Tigers offensive from clicking. Her 11 saves bettered RIT goalie Katelyn Crane, who made four stops for the home team, which was held without a free-position goal.

Despite losing its first conference game on Friday, Rensselaer appears headed for the No. 1 seed in the tournament and will serve as host to both semifinal games next weekend. St. Lawrence can wrap up the No. 2 seed in the conference with a win at the University of Rochester tomorrow at 2:00pm. William Smith has also locked up a tournament bid, while Vassar will also compete in the tournament if they defeat Bard tomorrow.