#2 Farmingdale State - 14, #3 St. Joseph's-LI - 11
Farmingdale, N.Y. - Junior midfielder Courtney Gendels (Wantagh, N.Y.) notched 10 points in the Skyline Conference Women's Lacrosse Semifinals as second-seeded Farmingdale State earned a 14-11 home victory over #3 St. Joseph's-Long Island this afternoon.
Tied 2-2 with 19:33 remaining in the first half, St. Joe's-LI (7-7) senior midfielder Nicole Stoppelli (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) registered back-to-back unassisted goals to put the Golden Eagles up by two. Only 2:39 later, Gendels tallied her second goal of the game to cut the Rams (8-10) deficit to one, 4-3.
Trailing 5-3 with 8:03 on the clock, Gendels recorded the final three goals of the half to put Farmingdale State in front, 6-5, at the break. In the first half, the Rams were 5-of-6 on free-position attempts, while the Golden Eagles were 3-for-11.
Leading 8-6 with 26:53 left to play, FSC used a free-position score by junior midfielder Sam Shelton (Holtsville, N.Y.) and an unassisted goal from sophomore midfielder Haley Perez (Smithtown, N.Y.) to extend the advantage to four.
SJC-LI responded with goals by Diana Johnston (Commack, N.Y.), Lauryn Gregson (East Islip, N.Y.) and Taylor Ferrito (Shirley, N.Y.) to quickly cut the deficit to 10-9 with 14:34 remaining. Farmingdale State followed with a pair of scores from both Gendels and sophomore attack Deanna Iannotta (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) to go ahead, 14-9, with 5:10 remaining. The Golden Eagles scored the last two goals of the game but fell, 14-11.
Gendels tied her season-high with 10 points on eight goals and two assists, while Iannotta added three goals and four ground balls. Shelton pitched in with two goals and five draw controls and freshman attack Kristen Shine (Manorville, N.Y.) recorded a game-high six DC's.
For St. Joe's-LI, Stoppelli scored a team-high four goals and caused a game-high five turnovers, while Gregson and Johnston had three goals apiece.
FSC freshman goalkeeper Iyana Hudson (Brentwood, N.Y.) stopped 12 shots, while SJC-LI senior Lindsay Ramos (Farmingdale, N.Y.) had 16 saves in the loss.
Farmingdale State next will travel to #1 Merchant Marine for the Skyline Conference Finals on Saturday, May 4th. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament.
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