NEWBURGH, NY – What a difference three days can make! On Saturday afternoon, the Maritime College women's lacrosse team lost at Mount St. Mary in its regular season finale. On Tuesday night, the fifth-seeded Privateers (9-5) returned to Kaplan Field in the first round of the Skyline Conference Tournament and posted a dominant 19-9 victory over the fourth-seeded Knights (10-6). With the victory, Maritime moved into the semifinals for the third consecutive season.
After the teams traded early goals,
Jenna Lesiewicz (Wading River, NY) scored to start a 9-0 run that gave the Privateers a 10-1 lead. Victoria Ward snapped the string at the 10:18 mark of the second quarter, but Maritime responded with two tallies less than a minute apart. The Privateers outscored the Knights 7-2 in the period to take a 15-3 advantage into the locker room.
Tori Gay (Whiteford, MD) increased the margin to 16-3 just 25 seconds into the third quarter before Mount St. Mary rattled off four straight goals to pull within 17-6. However,
Avery Jillson Neuwirth (Croton-on-Hudson, NY) found the back of the net with 33 seconds left in the quarter, and Lesiewicz made it 18-7 with 9:40 remaining in the contest. Maritime's 19-9 triumph was its first-ever road playoff win.
Gabrielle Nicolosi (West Islip, NY) paced the Privateers with five goals, and she added two assists. Lesiewicz finished with eight points on three goals and five assists to go along with three draw controls and two caused turnovers. Gay contributed three goals and two assists, while
Emily Commodore (Tinton Falls, NJ) contributed three goals and an assist.
Morgan Tracy (Cambridge, MD) had a hat trick of her own, and Jillson Neuwirth tallied two goals and two assists. She also tied for a team-high with three ground balls.
Kathryn Sandford (Floral Park, NY) caused three turnovers and
Mia Brandenstein (West Islip, NY) gathered three ground balls, as Maritime held a 26-12 edge in that category. In addition to picking up three ground balls,
Tori Koenig (Roxbury, NJ) (9-5) made nine saves.
Ward had four goals and two assists for the Knights. Shannon McGowan scored twice, and Delisianna Naccarato tallied one goal to go along with 10 draw controls. As a team, Mount St. Mary won 21 of 28 draws, with Karlie Ferrucci posting five draw controls. Peyton Curley led the Knights with three ground balls and was credited with seven saves after taking over in net for Liz Petrellese (7-6), who took the loss.
Maritime visits top-seeded Merchant Marine (11-2, 8-0 Skyline) at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the Skyline semifinals. The Mariners defeated the Privateers, 18-11, in last year's Skyline Championship Game.
