Loretto, Pa. – The Long Island University women's lacrosse team used a balanced offense with 12 players scoring in a 19-3 win at Saint Francis (Pa.) at DeGol Field on Sunday afternoon. The Blackbirds scored the first seven goals of the game to cruise to the win. Five Blackbirds scored multiple goals, led by sophomore Christie Wienckowski (Newton Square, Pa.) who posted four goals and two assists.

LIU (3-10, 2-3 Northeast Conference) opened the scoring just 1:29 into the contest on an unassisted effort by Wienckowski. Freshmen Gabrielle Gorbey (Ridley Park, Pa.) and Sara LaNoir (Queensbury, N.Y.) pushed the lead to 3-0 with a pair of goals less than a minute apart. Wienckowski tallied her second of the day at 19:26. Sophomore Jillian Maricondo (Levittown, N.Y.) collected her second assist of the day on the goal.

Freshman Sarah James (Springfield, Pa.) took a pass from junior Allison Funk (Lumberton, N.J.) to make it 5-0, before Funk scored at 11:39 off a pass from Wienckowski. James set up Wienckowski at the 7:18 mark to help her finish off the hat trick and extend LIU's lead to 7-0.

Saint Francis (0-13, 0-7 NEC) got on the board with 4:28 to play in the first period, but the Blackbirds came back with a pair of goals in the final minute. Senior Samantha Fischbeck (Baltimore, Md.) and Funk pushed LIU's halftime lead to 9-1.

The Blackbirds continued to roll in the second period as Maricondo, Wienckowski and sophomore Kristina Scheerer (West Chester, Pa.) each scored in the first four minutes to push LIU's lead to 12-1. Meg Lamarche scored the first of her two goals for the Red Flash to interrupt LIU's scoring run before sophomore Jenna Schauder (Jackson, N.J.) and James scored consecutive goals to make it 14-2 with 21:11 to play.

Following another goal from Lamarche, the Blackbirds responded with a 5-0 run to close out the game. Gorbey and Schauder each collected their second goals of the day to push the lead to 16-3. Freshman Annie Kalata (Nesconset, N.Y.) and sophomore Katt Oswaks (Westlake Village, Calif.) tacked on unassisted goals, before sophomore Danielle Laird (West Chester, Pa.) scored her first goal of the year to close out the scoring with 1:01 to play.

LIU held a commanding 40-12 advantage in shots as freshman Kimberly Bostwick (East Northport, N.Y.) had to make just six saves in the win. Senior Xiomara Garcia (Pottstown, Pa.), James and Maricondo all collected two assists on the day.

Long Island returns to Brooklyn for a home match against Mount St. Mary's on Friday, April 18, at 4:00 p.m. at LIU Field.

2008-04-13