BUFFALO, NY – The University of Rochester women's lacrosse team got its 2021 season off to a strong start, following a 16-4 win over D'Youville College on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams were kicking off their season, with Rochester moving to 1-0, while the host Saints drop to 0-1.
Rochester was led by two players who finished with five points, as
Mary Panepento and
Emily Voss both had three goals and two assists.
Emma Little and
Zoe Sullivan each scored twice while
Lucy Haggerty had three points, with two assists and one goal.
In goal for the Yellowjackets,
Carlie Bendavid played nearly 59 minutes and made eight saves while surrendering just four goals. Additional goal scorers for UR were
Sophia Stafford,
Grace Crochiere,
Clare Heffernan,
Hass Diallo and
Kendra Jones.
The game got off to a sluggish start, with the teams combining for just two goals, one by each side, through the first 13 minutes of the game. UR's Haggerty got the scoring started at 2:16 with an assist from Voss.
D'Youville would respond less than a minute later when Isabella Lucania scored from the free position to even the score.
Rochester regained its lead in the 14th minute as Crochiere found the twine after an assist from Haggerty. Little and Panepento then scored roughly a minute apart in the 18th and 19th minutes to boost UR's lead to 4-1.
The Saints scored again with 10:15 left in the half to make it 4-2, but Rochester rattled off six straight tallies to head into halftime with a 10-2 lead. Sullivan and Voss both scored twice in the run, while Heffernan and Stafford each added a score.
UR's run stretched to eight straight goals in the second half, as Voss and Jones scored to make it 12-2 less than four minutes in, putting the game out of reach.
Over the final 15 minutes, UR capitalized on free position shots, scoring three times following a D'Youville foul in the crease. Diallo, Panepento and Little were the goal scorers late.
Defensively,
Nikki Nanis paced Rochester with five caused turnovers and three ground balls. Crochiere had three caused turnovers and three ground balls while Sullivan caused two caused turnovers and corralled six draw controls.
D'Youville's Lucania and Riley Riedel were the goal scorers, each scoring twice. Lucania added seven draw controls while Bethany Wolcott and Amanda Waliszewski had three caused turnovers each. In goal, Hannah Wilson faced 22 UR shots and made six saves.
Rochester's next game is slated for Wednesday, March 17th at Nazareth College.
