PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – The University of Rochester lacrosse team fell behind visiting RIT by five goals after just nine minutes of play, only to rally over the final 51 minutes, earning a 16-14 Liberty League victory on Wednesday evening at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
 
URochester combined to outscore RIT 15-8 over the final three quarters plus of the contest, posting the win to move to 7-4 on the season and 4-2 in the Liberty League. The visiting Tigers fall to 8-4 overall and 2-4 in conference play.
 
With just three weekends to go in the regular season, the victory on Wednesday puts the Yellowjackets in a solid position within the Liberty League, sitting in third place among the 11 conference teams with the 4-2 mark.
 
Visiting RIT got off to a quick start thanks to early efforts from Zoe Heffernan and Grace Validzic. The pair combined for four of RIT's first six goals across the opening nine minutes of the game. Kate Trojan opened the scoring and Adele Jones also tallied a marker during the stretch as the Tigers jumped ahead 6-1, with Sara Mendelson proving the long UR score over that span.
 
Rochester began to turn things around late in the opening quarter, with Anna Rogers finding the net for her first of six goals on the day, before Alyssa Gorny tallied her first of five for the day with 2:06 left in the first. After 15 minutes of play, RIT led 6-3.
 
The Yellowjackets flipped the script in a dominant second quarter, outscoring the Tigers 7-3 to take a 10-9 lead at intermission.
 

Rogers and Gorny combined for the first three goals of the second, coming a total of 20 seconds apart in the opening minute, to pull the 'Jackets even. After Rogers scored with a player advantage, Gorny secured back-to-back draw controls and raced in for two straight goals.
 
RIT's Validzic stopped the Rochester run with a goal, and four minutes later, Jenna Bovenzi notched a player-up tally to build the RIT lead by to two, up 8-6.
 
URochester end finished with a flurry, scoring four of the next five goals to grab the one-goal lead at the break. Mendelson had her second of the game to start things with eight minutes left in the half, with Jenna Kessler following suit with 5:17 left.
 
The Tigers got another score from Validzic before Rogers added back-to-back goals in the final 2:13 of the quarter to put Rochester in front.
 
Gorny notched the opening goal of the second half to make the score 11-9 in favor of UR, but RIT answered with goals from Julia Sodoma and Sarah Hallinan with just 28 seconds in between to knot things up once again.
 
Kessler and Rogers regained the momentum for the home squad with unassisted scores late in the low-scoring third quarter, putting the 'Jackets back on top.
 
The scoring run stretched into the fourth, with Rogers scoring another player-up goal before Lorelei King found the net, moving the margin to four for URochester, up 14-11, with just under 11 minutes remaining.
 
RIT's Heffernan made it a two-goal differential following goals that spanned two minutes midway through the final period, but Gorny tallied her final score of the contest for the Yellowjackets to grab some key momentum heading into the final minutes.
 
The Tigers got one final goal from Emma Ripley with 3:31 remaining, but the Yellowjacket defense held strong the rest of the way, leading to the URochester 16-14 win.
 
Besides the 11 combined goals from Rogers and Gorny, both Kessler and Mendelson scored twice, with King adding one goal and one assist. Allison Weiden dished out three helpers, while Sam Kinch and Rose Bunting each had one.
 
URochester secured 17 of the 32 draw controls, with Rose and Maddie Bunting each finishing with a team-high four. Gorny and Mendelson each had three. Defensively, M. Bunting caused three turnovers, while Jenna Ufberg had two, with Ufberg also scooping a team-best five ground balls.
 
In the goals, UR's Isla Ablin had six saves, while Ellie Ruddy made 12 stops for the Tigers.
 
RIT's Heffernan finished with four goals and assist to lead the Tigers, while Validzic finished with four goals. Ripley added on goal and two assists.
 
Team wise, URochester led 38-31 in shots and only committed ten turnovers, matching a season-low. The Yellowjackets were also a perfect 15-for-15 in clear opportunities and led the ground ball category 16-8.
 
Up next, UR plays another Liberty League conference game, this time on the road, with the Yellowjackets traveling to Clarkson on Saturday for a 3 pm contest.