No. 17 Women's Lacrosse Opens 2010 with 17-10 Win Over Montclair St.; Smith Tallies 100th Career Goal
HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 3, 2010) – The No. 17 Stevens Institute of Technology women’s lacrosse team opened its 2010 season in style with a 17-10 win over visiting Montclair State University on Wednesday night in Hoboken, N.J. at the De Baun Athletic Complex. Stevens fell behind early but dominated the last 42-plus minutes of game time in the victory. Five different Ducks scored multiple goals, including a team-high four from junior midfielder Christine Smith, and senior captain Shannon McFadden made 11 saves in her first career start in net.
The Ducks (1-0) started a bit slow but seemed to find themselves with a little more than 10 minutes left in the first half, eventually cruising to the 17-10 win. Smith, who came into the game with 97 goals, recorded the 100th goal of her career with 27:44 remaining in the game to put the Ducks up 9-5.
Montclair (0-2) went up 5-3 with 12:07 to play in the first half after the third goal of the early going from sophomore Cora Delfini (New Egypt, N.Y.). From that point on, Stevens seemed to turn up the heat, outscoring the Red Hawks 12-3 over the next 30:52 to build a 15-8 lead with 10:10 remaining in the game.
Senior captain Alyssa Pigott started things with 11:02 left in the first on a free-position goal, and junior Pamela Loria tallied 1:13 later to tie the game at five apiece. Smith gave the Ducks the lead for good 14 seconds after Loria’s tally as the Ducks scored the final five goals of the first half, the last coming from junior Leah Wasserman, to take an 8-5 lead into intermission.
Smith’s 100th put Stevens up 9-5, but Montclair would not quit, recording the game’s next two scores to make it a 9-7 game with 25:45 remaining.
That two-goal margin would be the closest the Red Hawks would get as Stevens went onto score the next four goals. Pigott and freshman Joey Galligan each tallied once, while freshman Spencer Waybright rang the bell twice to put the game out of reach.
Waybright, Smith, junior Michelle Buonacuore, and sophomore Jenna Scheibling scored the last four goals for the Ducks who ended the game with a 38-25 edge in shots and a 23-18 advantage in ground balls. Stevens won 17-of-29 draw controls and went 7-of-12 on free-position attempts.
McFadden picked up two ground balls in addition to her 11 saves. Pigott had six points (three goals, three assists) and two draw controls, and Smith added two draw controls to her four scores. Waybright finished with three goals, an assist, a team-high three caused turnovers, and three ground balls, while Wasserman and Loria each tallied twice. Galligan totaled three points (one goal, two assists) and she also possessed a team-high four draws. Defenders Kara Borzillo and Ashley Carey each scooped up three ground balls in the win.
Delfini scored four times for the Red Hawks and added two assists. Senior Morgan MacPhee (Toms River, N.J.) and Kayla Henderson (Landing, N.J.) each scored twice. Freshman goalkeeper Tiffani Henderson (Landing, N.J.) made 14 saves in the loss.
Stevens will look to push its record to 2-0 on Saturday afternoon when it hosts No. 9 Union College. Game-time is slated for 12 p.m. from the De Baun Athletic Complex. For those unable to make the trip, the contest will be webcast live at www.PennAtlantic.com.
