Late Game Surge Powers Tigers Past Gulls

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Endicott's women's lacrosse team was tied at ten goals apiece with Rochester Institute of Technology late in their non-conference contest on Sunday afternoon, but the host Tigers rattled off five straight goals over the final 10:29 to emerge with a 15-10 victory.

The game was part of the Flower City Cup, which took place over the course of this weekend and featured six men's and six women's teams in an event to raise money for cancer research, support and awareness within the lacrosse community.

RIT collected their third straight win and improve to 5-1, while the Gulls see their record even up at 2-2.

Senior Holly Davis (Guilford, Conn.) led Endicott with four goals, while classmate Lauren Todd (Newfields, N.H.) scored twice and had two assists. Senior Shelby Vakiener (Fairport, N.Y.) paced the home team with six goals and two assists. Vakiener had three of the final five goals for RIT, and now has 26 goals on the season.

The Gulls trailed 2-0 to start the game but evened the score thanks to goals by Davis and Caitlin Pratt (Bow, N.H.), the first of two on the day. Callie Murphy (Woburn, Mass.), who also had two goals in the game, found the net in the first half, but Vakiener scored her second goal four minutes from half-time, and the Tigers went into the break with a 6-4 lead.

Todd and Pratt opened the second half with back to back goals to re-tie the game at six, with Pratt collecting her fifth tally of the season.

Loren Azlein (Cleveland, Ohio) and Vakiener scored consecutive goals for RIT at the 19:52 mark of the second half to reclaim a two goal lead, but Endicott fired back with three straight goals, two by Davis and one from Murphy to give the Gulls their only lead of the game at 9-8 with under 15 minutes to play.

Marlee Vlassis (Syracuse, N.Y.), who scored twice for the Tigers, gave them back the lead on a free position attempt with 11:35 remaining but Todd tied the game at 10 with her fifth goal of the year, on an assist from Kelly Tierney (S. Hadley, Mass.).

Endicott held advantages in shots (28-27), ground balls (28-20), and draw controls (17-10), with Davis winning a game-high 7 draws on her own. RIT went 4-for-8 on free position attempts, while Endicott went 1-for-7. The Gulls turned the ball over 17 times, to just 14 for the Tigers.

Murphy picked up five ground balls, while Todd and Vakiener each caused three turnovers, tops on their respective teams.

Junior goalie Rachel Socolow (Westford, Mass.) took the loss in net for the Gulls, making four saves.

In addition to Endicott, RIT, and Nazareth, who the Gulls beat on Friday afternoon, the women's teams at the Flower City Cup included Western New England, St. John Fisher and Fredonia State.

The Gulls are in the midst of five straight road games, which will continue on Tuesday evening when they travel to Brunswick, Maine to take on Bowdoin at 4:00 pm.

RIT is off until the following Tuesday, March 26, when the Tigers host Nazareth at 4 pm.