BOSTON, MA – Saint Joseph's (3-2, 1-0 GNAC) defeated Emerson College (2-3, 0-1 GNAC), 9-6, in a GNAC women's lacrosse opener on Saturday afternoon. Junior attacker Cassie Diplock (Augusta, Maine) netted a pair of goals in the victory.
Saint Joseph's rallied from a three-goal deficit by scoring eight of the game's final 10 markers. Trailing 4-1 after Emerson junior Krystie Zoch (Mahwah, N.J.) tallied an unassisted goal with 12:58 remaining in the first half, junior Anneka Adame (San Diego, Calif.) brought the Monks within two with a free-position goal 5:30 later and sophomore midfielder Kirstin McCombs (Lewiston, Maine) found the back of the net 17 seconds before the break to make it a 4-3 game heading into intermission.
Just 3:08 into the second stanza, freshman midfielder Kat Gadbois (Scarborough, Maine) registered a free-position marker to knot the game at four-apiece, but Lions freshman Tayllar Righini (Salem, N.H.) put the hosts back on top with a man-up marker at the 22:15 mark.
Emerson's one-goal lead did not survive for long, as Diplock re-tied the contest at five-all exactly a minute later. Gadbois hit pay-dirt again at the 9:35 mark and Diplock went on to score in rapid succession minutes later to provide the Royal Blue with an 8-5 lead.
Adame netted a man-up goal on a free-position attempt with 4:50 left and Emerson junior Kanika Misra (Potsdam, N.Y.) closed out the game scoring less than two minutes later.
For the Monks, Gadbois scored twice and collected a game-high six ground balls, Adame potted a pair of markers, junior defender Rachelle Messuri (Atkinson, N.H.) added five ground balls and a pair of draw controls and sophomore Lizzie Calnan (Westport, Mass.) contributed three caused turnovers, three ground balls and two draw controls in the GNAC victory. Junior Macy Pagurko (Augusta, Maine) netted the first goal of the game and scooped up a pair of ground balls for Saint Joseph's.
In goal, junior keeper Haley Nason (Saco, Maine) made nine saves for the Monks and Emerson freshman netminder Victoria Kanaris (Haworth, N.J.) tallied six stops for the hosts.
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 2-6 in the history of the series with Emerson College and has now defeated the Lions in consecutive meetings. St. Joe's defeated Emerson by an 8-6 margin last spring.
Saint Joseph's plays at Bates College on Monday at 4:00 PM while Emerson travels to Gordon College on Tuesday for a 7:00 PM start.
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
