Newburgh, N.Y. – Three Knights tallied hat tricks and six players scored at least two goals as the Mount Saint Mary College Women's Lacrosse team opened the 2021 season with an impressive 19-8 road win at Purchase.
Kaitlyn DeLorenzo (Southington, Conn.),
Ashley Giorgi (Danbury, Conn.) and
Megan Shalvey (Blauvelt, N.Y.) led the scoring attack with five points apiece.
The two teams split the first four goals of the game, but after Purchase tied the score at 2-2, the Mount ripped off four straight goals to open a 6-2 advantage with just over 14 minutes left before halftime. DeLorenzo scored the first of her three goals with 18:47 left in the half to push the Mount in front 4-2.
Purchase stopped the scoring run with a tally at the 10:42 mark of the first half before the Knights struck with another four-goal run to open a 10-3 advantage with 4:12 remaining in the opening stanza. Shalvey tallied twice for the Knights in the run with DeLorenzo adding an assist.
Shalvey completed her hat trick to close out the scoring in the opening period, potting her third of the game with less than 90 seconds left before halftime to send the Mount into the intermission with an 11-4 advantage.
Mount Saint Mary controlled play in the opening 30 minutes, outshooting the Panthers 25-9 overall and 20-7 in shots on goal. The Knights held a 12-2 edge in groundballs after 30 minutes and a 9-7 advantage in draw controls.
Mount Saint Mary scored four of the first six goals of the second period to open a 15-6 lead and put the game away with a third four-goal run to open up a 12-goal advantage with 8:30 left in regulation time. DeLorenzo sparked the run for the Mount with a goal and an assist.
DeLorenzo and Shalvey each posted a trio of goals and a pair of assists for the Knights, with DeLorenzo adding two ground balls and Shalvey causing two turnovers. Giorgi was the third Knights with a hat trick, finishing the tilt with three goals, including a free position tally.
Nicole Cervone (Shirley, N.Y.),
Britany Dones (Middletown, N.Y.) and
Victoria Ward (Oceanside, N.Y.) each tallied twice with Dones collecting three groundballs and winning two draw controls. Ward finished off a strong game with six groundballs and five draw controls.
Sinead Henry (Pearl River, N.Y.) led the Knights with six draw controls and added four groundballs, a goal and an assist.
Jackie Lindsay (Baldwin, N.Y.) closed the win with a goal, an assist, a groundball, a caused turnover and a draw control.
Alyssa Kizak led the Panthers with two goals and four points with Gabby Castles posting two goals, three points and a game-high nine draw controls.
Jackie Finkel (Warwick, N.Y.) earned the win in goal for the Mount with nine saves while adding a groundball and a caused turnover. Her counterpart from Purchase, Casandra Schmoger, totaled 16 saves for the Panthers.
Mount Saint Mary closed out the night with a 42-23 advantage in overall shots, including a 35-17 edge in shots on goal. Groundballs went to the Mount 25-8 and the Knights finished with a slim 15-13 advantage in draw controls.
The win, the Mount's first season opening victory since 2016, pushes it to 1-0. The Knights will be back in action again on April 1 when they travel to the College of Mount Saint Vincent. Opening Draw with the Dolphins in Riverdale is scheduled for 4:15 p.m.
