Farmingdale State - 18, St. Joseph's - 10
Patchogue, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State women's lacrosse team grabbed the top seed for the upcoming Skyline Conference Playoffs with tonight's 18-10 victory over St. Joseph's (12-4, 6-1) at Danzi Stadium. The Rams improved to 16-1, 7-0 in the conference and remained undefeated in the past 25 regular-season Skyline games, dating back to March 24, 2012.
Just 31 seconds in, Golden Eagles sophomore attack Heather Ferchland (Selden, N.Y.) scored the opening goal for a 1-0 lead. Farmingdale State junior midfielder Alyssa Handel (Medford, N.Y.) tied it up off an assist from junior attack Kelly Geheran (Sayville, N.Y.), followed by two assists from junior midfielder Nicole Marzocca (North Babylon, N.Y.) on goals by junior midfielder Christy Thoden (Bayport, N.Y.) and Handel for a 3-1 Rams lead with 22:42 left in the first.
St. Joe's scored the next two goals, tying the game at 3-3, but Farmingdale scored eight straight while holding the Golden Eagles scoreless until the 2-minute mark. The Rams led 11-4 at the break.
Thoden, Marzocca and junior attack Jackie Kennedy (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) tabbed goals over the first six minutes of the second half, giving Farmingdale State the 14-4 advantage and putting the game out of reach as the Rams cruised to their 10th straight win.
Marzocca tallied a career-high seven assists, along with three goals and is now one point away from tying the school record for points in a season (96). Thoden grabbed 11 draw controls and with that broke her own school record, as she now holds 129 draws this season. She also scored a game-high six goals and caused five turnovers.
Sophomore attack Kimberly Pepe (Levittown, N.Y.) scored three for Farmingdale State, while sophomore attack Janisha Sanchez (Brentwood, N.Y.) tabbed three assists for the night. Sophomore defender Sara Rivadeneyra (Ridge, N.Y.) finished with four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Freshman goalkeeper Krista Spagnoletta (West Islip, N.Y.) made eight saves in the win.
Ferchland finished with a team-high four goals, three ground balls and four caused turnovers for St. Joe's. Junior defender Nicole Lyman (West Babylon, N.Y.) posted team-highs of eight ground balls, eight caused turnovers and five draw controls.
The Rams will now host #4 seed Mount Saint Vincent in the Skyline Semifinals on Wednesday, April 23rd at 4:00 p.m. The winner advances to the Skyline Championship on Saturday, April 26th, played at the highest remaining seed.
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