PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The No. 2 ranked Pace University women's lacrosse team defeated Southern New Hampshire University in the NE10 Conference Championship Quarterfinals, defeating the Penmen 19-6 Tuesday, May 2 at Pace Stadium.
The Setters (16-1, 12-0 NE10) scored three times in the first 7:08 of the game, getting the first goal of the game from grad student midfielder Emma Rafferty (Bay Shore, N.Y./Islip), who set the program single-season goals record with her 69th goal of the season on the play to give Pace the lead. Grad student midfielder Kayla Conway (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) and junior midfielder Angelina Porcello (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) followed up with one goal apiece to give the home team a 3-0 lead, but Shelby Cole answered back with a goal for Southern New Hampshire (9-8, 5-7 NE10) to cut the lead to two.
Conway and Rafferty each added one more later in the period, and a goal with 2:35 left by SNHU's Skyler Renaud made it a 5-2 game after one.
Pace outscored the Penmen 5-1 in the second, getting two goals from Conway, who led Pace and tied her career-high with seven goals on the evening. Rafferty added another while the Setters were down a player, while Porcello and grad student midfielder Aleya Corretjer (Thiells, N.Y./North Rockland) scored one apiece to give Pace a 10-3 lead at the half.
The home team blew the game open in the third, scoring the first six goals of the period to go up by a 16-3 score. Porcello and Conway each scored a pair, and senior attack Jolie Urraro (Sayville, N.Y./Connetquot) added two of her own. Courtney Cronin scored late in the quarter for SNHU as Pace held a 16-4 advantage heading to the fourth.
The visitors scored the first two goals of the final period, getting scores from Alexis DeLucia and Angelina Graziano to narrow Pace's lead to 10. The Setters, however, came back with three goals in the final eight minutes of play, getting one apiece from Urraro, Porcello and Conway as Pace cruised to a 19-6 win in the quarterfinal round.
On the night, Conway had seven goals, while Porcello had five goals and two assists. Rafferty and Urraro each scored three, and goalkeeper Samantha Tanguay (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) got the win in net, making three saves.
Up Next
The Setters advance to the NE10 Conference Championship Semifinal Friday, May 5, when they will host No. 5 seed Saint Anselm College at 6 p.m.
