PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – The University of Rochester lacrosse team hosted and won its first ever home contest in the Liberty League Tournament on Tuesday afternoon, defeating St. Lawrence University 8-7 at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
Rochester (12-5) will play in the Liberty League Tournament semifinals of Friday afternoon against top-seeded and #5 ranked William Smith. St. Lawrence's season ends with a 9-7 record overall.
The Yellowjackets got the game-winning goal from
Anna Rogers with 2:43 remaining in regulation, with the junior notching her 51st goal of the season and fourth game-winning tally of 2026. Rogers came into the scoring area untouched and scored off a perfect feed from teammate
Sam Kinch along the right side. Kinch's assist was the first-year's third of the game.
Rogers' goal was the second in a 24-second span in the fourth quarter, as
Alyssa Gorny notched the equalizer from the free-position with 3:07 left on the clock. Gorny's goal was her team-leading 63rd of the season, extending her URochester single-season record.
After the Yellowjackets took the lead, UR secured the draw control because of a St. Lawrence foul in the midfield. Rogers fired another shot on net with 90 seconds remaining on the clock, but Zoe Froimovitz made a big save, keeping it a one-goal contest.
St. Lawrence cleared and took a timeout to set up its offense with 1:11 left. The ball ended up in the stick of Cate Rathnam, the Saints second-leading goal scorer, who fired a wide open shot on net, only to have UR keeper
Isla Ablin come up with the biggest save of the game.
Ablin made a huge stick save in the final minute.
Ablin's stick save bounded up in the air and defender
Talia Feldman secured the possession for the Yellowjackets. URochester was able to kill most of the remaining clock off, with St. Lawrence aggressively causing a turnover near midfield with under five seconds left.
The Saints were unable to traverse the field in time, as the clock expired before the visitors were able to get a last second shot attempt off.
URochester's two late goals rallied the Yellowjackets past the Saints who used a 4-goal run spanning the third and fourth quarters to turn a 6-3 deficit into a 7-6 lead with under six minutes left in the contest.
St. Lawrence benefitted from several cards during the go-ahead stretch, with three of the four goals being player-up tallies. Rathnam scored twice for SLU, including the goal to make it 7-6 Saints with 5:47 left in the fourth. The two goals were her 39th and 40th of the season.
Rathnam started the rally late in the third, scoring off a feed from Jessica Laplaca, with Lily Stanton and Tallis Tarbell notching the other goals, both in the fourth quarter, during the scoring run for the Saints.
The low-scoring affair started with just one goal coming in the opening quarter.
Jenna Kessler flipped in a backhand goal while falling to the ground of a crossing pass from teammate
Rose Bunting. That score came with 1:09 left in the first quarter.
Both keepers were solid in the first 15 minutes, making six combined saves, while the two teams also committed ten combined turnovers over the first quarter.
Play opened up a bit in the second period, with each team connecting for three goals, leading to a 4-3 URochester advantage at halftime.
Jolie Osborne and Tarbell scored to make it 2-1 SLU at the midway point of the second, before URochester ended the half scoring three of the last four goals.
Some St. Lawrence cards were to the benefit of Rochester this time, with Bunting and Rogers each scoring player-up goals to pull the Yellowjackets back in front.
Laplaca leveled the game at 3-all with 1:56 left in the half, but Bunting responded, finding the twine off a feed from Kinch to pull the home team in front once again.
The Yellowjackets made it three straight goals with
Allison Weiden and Bunting scoring in the opening eight minutes of the third period. Weiden notched her goal less than a minute into the quarter, and then added an assist on Bunting's third goal of the contest, making the score 6-3 Rochester.
For the game, UR led 28-22 in shots and 11-6 in draw controls. Both teams were nearly even in turnovers, with St. Lawrence committing one more than the 'Jackets, 18-17. On clears, the Saints were 21-of-24, with Rochester finishing 15-for-18.
Gorny led the Yellowjackets with six draw controls, while
Sara Mendelson added ten for UR. Gorny also had a team-high five ground balls while
Maddie Bunting had three.
R. Bunting caused three turnovers, with Weiden and
Lorelei King chipping in two apiece.
Jenna Ufberg also had one and became the URochester single-season leader in that category, with 32 in the 2026 campaign.
In between the pipes, Ablin finished with nine saves, while Froimovitz had 13 in a losing effort for the Saints.
