PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Sophomore
Abby Haimson (Montville, NJ/Montville) tallied six points as the Pace University women's lacrosse team fell to Merrimack College by a score of 12-9 Saturday afternoon in a Northeast-10 Conference matchup at Pace Stadium. The Setters fall to 5-3 overall and 2-3 in NE-10 games, while Merrimack improves to 4-5 and 1-4.
Haimson started off her strong play early for the Setters, as she fired in two goals in the first two minutes of the game. Merrimack scored a goal at the 22:46 mark, but Pace answered back a little over four minutes later with goal by sophomore
Courtney Pabst (East Patchogue, NY/Bellport). Carly McKenna then scored the Warriors' second goal, but Haimson reached a hat trick at the 14:54 mark, and then sophomore
Casey Gelderman (Farmingville, NY/Sachem High School East) netted a goal of her own to give Pace a 5-2 lead.
Merrimack scored the next two goals, but Gelderman then fired in her second goal of the half, and sophomore
Angela Kelly (Garnerville, NY/North Rockland) blasted in a goal of her own to give the Setters a 7-4 advantage. In the last two minutes of the first half the Warriors scored three goals, the last being at the buzzer, and Pace went into halftime tied with the Warriors, 7-7.
Merrimack continued its run from the first half, as the Warriors scored four consecutive goals to open the half and took and 11-7 lead with 16:55 remaining in regulation. Haimson later scored her fourth of the game, and then Gelderman tallied her third minutes later, but the defenses of both teams locked down for seven scoreless minutes. The Warriors netted one more with 1:44 to play to reach the eventual final score of 12-9.
Haimson's game-high six points consisted of four goals and a pair of assists. Gelderman added an assist to her three scores for a four-point afternoon. Kelly and sophomore
Najmah James (Danbury, CT/Danbury) led the Setters with four groundballs each, while James and freshman
Laurie Stark (Danbury, CT/Danbury) registered a team-high two caused turnovers each.
Emily Ankabrandt (Scotia, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) finished with four draw controls.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Alissa Silvestri (Congers, NY/Clarkstown North) made six stops, but falls to 5-3 on the season with the loss. Lauren Trepaney improves to 6-2 for the Warriors after allowing two goals and making seven saves.
Merrimack was led by Hunter McCarthy's five points on two goals and three assists. Bridget Schofield led all players with seven draw controls adding two goals and a groundball. Michelle Nadeau recorded five groundballs and three caused turnovers.
The Setters will next visit the two-time defending national champion, and currently top-ranked Adelphi University on Tuesday, April 5, in Garden City, N.Y at Motamed Field, in another Northeast-10 Conference matchup. The opening draw is set for 6 p.m.
For all information regarding Pace University women's lacrosse, log on to
www.PaceUAthletics.com, follow Pace Athletics on Facebook (
T-Bone, Official Mascot of Pace University Athletics), and follow the women's lacrosse team on Twitter (
@PaceWLax) and Instagram (
@PaceWLax).
