PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – The University of Rochester lacrosse team used consistent scoring, recording three or more goals in every quarter, to power past visiting Nazareth University 17-5 in non-conference action on Tuesday afternoon at Fauver Stadium.
The win propels Rochester to 9-7 overall, while Nazareth drops to 6-9 during the 2024 campaign. Tuesday's match was the final regular season home game at Fauver Stadium for Rochester.
Among the highlights in the game were junior co-captain
Gracie Giannettino recording four goals to reach the 100-goal plateau for her career.
Alyssa Gorny finished as the leading scoring in the contest, notching five goals and one assist for six points.
Anna Rogers had two goals and two assists, while
Emily Schillinger added two tallies to her season total. Additional goal scorers included
Jenna Ufberg,
Grace Crochiere,
Zoe Sullivan and
Regi Merkin. In goal, senior
Ava Saffren made eight saves.
In the circle, Crochiere led Rochester with four draw controls, while
Abbey Smith added three. Saffren was the leader in ground balls, scooping up three, with several other players nabbing two.
Rochester got things started after Smith secured the opening draw control. Ufberg laced a shot off the post, but after Gorny tracked down the loose ball, Schillinger found the back of the net for the 1-0 Rochester lead.
The next possession went to Nazareth after the draw and the Golden Flyers converted at the offensive end, with Makenna Misiurewicz scoring off a feed from Julia Dietz.
Giannettino now has 100 career goals.
UR countered with back-to-back goals, less than 40 seconds apart, one each by Giannettino and Gorny to take a two-goal lead.
Neither team scored for the next eight minutes, with Nazareth's Dietz breaking the scoreless string with her first of the day, coming with 3:16 left in the first.
To close out the period, UR added two more to its total, with Giannettino and Gorny each recording their second score of the day to make it 5-2 Rochester.
In the second, Rochester's run became five straight, with Gorny, Crochiere and Rogers finding the twine to increase the 'Jacket lead to six, up 8-2.
Nazareth scored midway through the period, but Rogers and Gorny kept Rochester in front by a comfortable margin, continuing to increase the lead heading into half with goals late in the quarter.
Rochester was able to extend its lead to double-digits in the third quarter, with Ufberg connecting off a pass from Rogers, but Nazareth quickly answered a minute later with Kate Metzler scoring her 40th goal of the season.
The Golden Flyers made it two scores in a row when Liddie Hoare fired a shot past Saffren four minutes into the fourth, but Rochester's Giannettino picked up goals three and four on the day in the ensuing minutes to regain UR's 10-goal margin.
Sullivan and Mergin got on the stat sheet for the Yellowjackets with goals in the final five minutes.
Rochester's next game is set for Saturday, as UR closes out the regular season schedule at Union College in a Liberty League matchup.
UR has already clinched a playoff berth in the conference tournament, but Rochester's seeding will be determined following the outcome of that matchup and the rest of the Liberty League schedule over the weekend.
