Easton, Mass. – Goalkeeper Ashley Armstrong made 12 saves, including three in the final 90 seconds, to lead 13th-ranked and fourth-seeded Stonehill College to an 11-10 victory over the 10th-ranked and fifth-seeded Le Moyne College women's lacrosse team on Wednesday night in the first round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championships at Timothy J. Coughlin Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium.
The Dolphins opened the scoring less than 90 seconds into the contest as sophomore attacker Claire Monnat (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) finished off a feed from junior attacker Catie McKay (Penfield, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy).
The Skyhawks, who defeated the Dolphins, 7-6, in Easton on April 5, responded with four straight goals. Following a Le Moyne turnover, Brooke Rudden found Kelsey Shannahan for her 45th goal of the year with 24:50 remaining in the half. Less than two minutes later, Lizzie Lane gave the Skyhawks the lead by converting a free-position shot. Cassandra McGill doubled the lead with a free-position goal with 18:15 left. Shannahan capped the run by finishing off another feed from Rudden with 17:41 to play.
McKay ended Le Moyne's scoreless stretch of 15:24 with an unassisted goal with 13:09 left in the half.
Stonehill scored three straight goals less than three and one-half minutes apart to extend its lead to 7-2. Emily Kessel pushed the margin back to three with a free-position goal at the 7:24 mark, while Rudden followed with an unassisted tally with 5:35 left. Jillian Yung gave the Skyhawks their largest lead of the game by finishing off a pass from McGill with 4:05 remaining.
Senior midfielder Victoria Nies (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) capped the scoring in the half with an unassisted goal to pull the Dolphins within 7-3 at the intermission.
The Dolphins cut their deficit to 7-5 with a pair of goals over the first six minutes of the second half. McKay netted Le Moyne's fourth goal with 28:37 left after taking a pass from senior attacker Kathleen Conese (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool). Following a Stonehill turnover, junior attacker Sam Yaro (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) tallied her 19th goal of the season with 24:10 to play.
Stonehill got one of the goals back just 47 seconds later on an unassisted tally by Yung.
The Dolphins recorded three consecutive goals over the next 10 and one-half minutes to tie the score at eight. Just 34 seconds after Yung scored, sophomore midfielder Kaitlyn Armstrong (Oswego, N.Y./Oswego) found the back of the net for the 10th time this season after taking a pass from graduate student attacker Marley Ciferri (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca/Syracuse). Monnat got the Dolphins within a goal with 22:01 remaining off a pass from McKay. After almost 10 minutes of scoreless action, Conese knotted the score at eight apiece with an unassisted goal, her 28th of the year.
The Skyhawks won the ensuing draw and held possession for just over two minutes until Shannahan scored after taking a pass from Rudden to start a three-goal run. Just 65 seconds later, the duo reversed roles as Rudden tallied her 20th goal of the season. Elizabeth Vetter netted the eventual game-winning goal with 5:08 remaining after receiving a feed from Rudden.
After calling a timeout, the Dolphins scored twice in a span of 46 seconds to get back within a goal. Yaro converted a free-position shot 37 seconds after Vetter scored to start the comeback bid. Freshman midfielder Vicki Graveline (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee) won the ensuing draw and 45 seconds later Conese took a pass from McKay and deposited the ball into the back of the net for the 29th time, tops on the team.
The Skyhawks won the ensuing draw, but turned the ball over after a possession of 2:11. The Dolphins sprinted up field and got a shot off, but it was turned away by Armstrong. The Dolphins regained possession of the ball, but Armstrong made another save with 34 seconds left, but then turned the ball over 20 seconds later. Yaro was able to get off one final shot with 10 seconds remaining, but Armstrong made another save, her seventh of the second half.
Junior goalkeeper Molly Marbut (Edgewater, Md./South River) made three saves in suffering her second loss in seven starts this season.
Le Moyne (12-5) now awaits word on whether it receives its fourth straight berth to the NCAA Championships. The four-team North Region field will be announced on Sunday night on NCAA.com. The Dolphins were ranked fourth in the NCAA North Region rankings released earlier on Wednesday.
