PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The No. 2 ranked Pace University women's lacrosse team suffered its first defeat in nearly two months Sunday, May 7, as the Setters were defeated by No. 5 ranked Le Moyne College 14-13 in the NE10 Conference Championship.
The Setters (17-2, 12-0 NE10) got on the board first, scoring just short of the five-minute mark as junior midfielder Angelina Porcello (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) found the back of the net off an assist by grad student midfielder Aleya Corretjer (Thiells, N.Y./North Rockland). Le Moyne (18-2, 11-1 NE10) came back with two goals to take the lead, getting goals by Gemma Addonizio and Sara Goodwin, who led all players with seven points on the day. Grad student midfielder Kayla Conway (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) then gave Pace the lead, scoring back-to-back goals in a span of 2:05 to put the home team ahead 3-2. Addonizio scored with just over three minutes left, tying the game at three at the end of the first.
The Setters jumped out to a three-goal lead in the second, taking a 6-3 advantage. Corretjer got the scoring started just 54 seconds in, followed by a goal from grad student midfielder Emma Rafferty (Bay Shore, N.Y./Islip). Senior attack Jolie Urraro (Sayville, N.Y./Connetquot) then scored with Pace up a play to give the home team a three-goal cushion, but the Dolphins came back with the next two to cut their deficit to one goal after scoring twice in 47 seconds. Urraro scored with 5:29 to go to push the lead back to two, but Le Moyne scored two goals in the final 42 seconds of the quarter to tie the game at seven going into halftime.
In the third, Pace scored six times to take control of the game. Porcello scored the first two goals of the quarter to give the home team a 9-7 lead, followed by a goal from the Dolphins' Adrianna Nojaim to trim the lead to one. The Setters scored the next two, as senior attack Sydney Juvelier (Centereach, N.Y./Centereach) and Urraro found the back of the net, but Goodwin scored with 41 seconds left for the visitors. However, with just three seconds remaining, Conway scored off a free-position attempt to put Pace ahead 13-9 heading to the fourth.
After no scoring through the first seven minutes of the final period, Le Moyne took over. Jessica Meneilly and Goodwin scored two goals in 1:37, then with 5:10 remaining, Meneilly scored her second of the quarter to bring it back to a one-goal game. Goodwin's fourth of the day tied the game with under four minutes remaining, then a free-position attempt goal by Meneilly with 2:17 left gave the Dolphins their first lead since the opening quarter. The Setters pushed over the final two minutes, but Le Moyne was able to hold them off to take a 14-13 victory and win the NE10 Championship.
Conway and Corretjer led the Setters with four points apiece, while Urraro had three goals for the home team. Goodwin and Meneilly each scored four goals for the Dolphins, with Goodwin adding three assists on the day as well.
