Merchant Marine - 12, Farmingdale State - 4
Kings Point, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State women's lacrosse team traveled to Merchant Marine for their Skyline Conference opener on Wednesday night and fell, 12-4. The Rams now stand at 1-10 overall and 0-1 in the conference, while the Mariners improved to a perfect 8-0, 1-0.
Freshman attack Jessie Wohner (Norfolk, Va.) recorded the first two goals to quickly put Merchant Marine on top less than four minutes into the game. With 18:35 left in the first, an unassisted score by junior attack Grace McHugh (Sturbridge, Mass.) extended the USMMA advantage to 3-0.
FSC got on the board at the 15:04 mark after junior midfielder Courtney Gendels (Wantagh, N.Y.) converted a free-position attempt. Merchant Marine's Meredith Willard (Portland, Maine) notched the final goal of the half as the Mariners took a 4-1 lead into the break. In the first half, the Rams were outshot 18-10 and Merchant Marine held a 16-6 ground ball advantage.
Leading 5-2 with 26:33 remaining, the Mariners notched four straight goals, including two by Wohner, to go out in front, 9-2. An unassisted goal from Gendels with 13:34 on the clock cut the Farmingdale State deficit to 9-3 but USMMA responded with scores from senior midfielder Jessica Reilly (Sayville, N.Y.) and Willard to open up an 11-3 advantage. Each team would add one goal down the stretch as the Rams dropped the conference opener, 12-4.
For FSC, Gendels tallied a team-high two goals and junior defender Alexandra Palladino (Dix Hills, N.Y.) picked up five ground balls. Freshman defender Hayley Kirby (West Islip, N.Y.) and junior midfielder Sam Shelton (Holtsville, N.Y.) each had a team-high four draw controls.
The Mariners were led by Willard who had a game-high five goals to go along with four draw controls and four ground balls, while Wohner added four scores in the victory.
Freshman goalkeeper Iyana Hudson (Brentwood, N.Y.) stopped 13 shots for the Rams and senior Hannah Gizzi (Finksburg, Md.) had 11 saves for USMMA.
Farmingdale State next will host Mount Saint Mary in a Skyline Conference game on Saturday, April 6th at 3:30 p.m.
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