Women’s Lacrosse Holds Off Central Connecticut State, 9-5

(box score)

4/13/07 -- Senior Amy Rizzo (Jackson, N.J.) recorded her fourth five-goal game of the season to pace the Long Island University women’s lacrosse team in a 9-5 win over Central Connecticut State on Friday afternoon at LIU Field. The Blackbirds used a strong defensive effort to pick up their third straight Northeast Conference win.

Long Island (5-8, 3-3 NEC) held a three-goal lead at halftime, but Central Connecticut got a goal from Lauren Paolillo to open the second half and later cut the LIU lead to 6-5 after Abby Hayes scored with 8:41 to play. The Blackbirds, however, put the game away by scoring the final three goals of the game. Rizzo scored an unassisted goal at the 7:14 mark and then added a free position shot almost two minutes later to make it 8-5. A goal from freshman Kristina Scheerer (West Chester, Pa.) with 43 seconds left iced the win for LIU.

Both teams took a cautious approach to start the game, with the first goal not occurring until almost eight minutes into action. Central Connecticut (2-10, 1-5 NEC) struck first when Courtney Mooney took a pass from Lauren Paolillo and put the guests up 1-0 at the 22:32 mark.

Senior Jackie McCormick (Liverpool, N.Y.) got LIU on the board just 20 seconds later when she converted off a pass from freshman Christie Wienckowski (Newton Square, Pa.). Rizzo scored at the 18:43 mark to give the Blackbirds the lead before CCSU tied it on a goal from Eve Belardinelli midway through the half.

The Blackbirds took the lead for good when Rizzo scored consecutive goals within 16 seconds of each other, with the first coming at the 11:29 mark. The Blue Devils cut the lead to 4-3 before LIU got goals from sophomore Allison Funk (Lumberton, N.J.) and McCormick to close out the scoring in the first half.

Long Island held a 35-21 advantage in shots and forced 20 CCSU turnovers. Sophomore Kimberly Campbell (Malvern, Pa.) had a strong game in net, making 10 saves. Junior Xiomara Garcia (Pottstown, Pa.) was outstanding on defense, forcing four turnovers and picking up eight groundballs.

CCSU was led by Courtney Mooney, who tallied a goal and two assists on the day. Alice Lee made 14 saves in net for the Blue Devils.

The Blackbirds return to action on Sunday, April 15, with a game at 1:00 p.m. against Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Md.