Hempstead, NY -- Junior midfielder Sandy Wasserbach scored a career-high five goals and junior goalie Mary Cuddihy stopped a career-high 11 shots in net to lead the Hofstra Women's Lacrosse team to a 15-7 victory over Stony Brook on Wednesday evening at James M. Shuart Stadium.

Hofstra trailed 5-1 early in the contest before using a 10-0 run to close the first half to pull away for the eight-goal victory. The win was the Pride's third straight and improves their record to 6-3 this season. Stony Brook dropped its fourth straight contest to fall to 3-8 this season.

Stony Brook would jump out to an early 5-1 lead as Melissa Cook tallied two goals in the first 14 minutes of the game to give the Seawolves the early advantage. With 17:01 left in the opening stanza, Wasserbach would kick-start Hofstra on the 10-0 that saw the Pride eventually lead 11-5 after a free-position goal from junior midfielder Corrine Gandolfi with 24 seconds left before intermission.

Wasserbach would score four of her five goals during the run, including a free-position goal with 5:34 left in the half that knotted the score at five. Junior midfielder Liz Falco put Hofstra ahead to stay less than a minute later off an assist from Gandolfi, who tallied two goals and one assist in the contest.

Falco finished with three goals, while junior midfielder K'Leigh Vanaman added one goal and two assists in the game. Sophomore defender Katie Hertsch posted five draw controls and three ground balls to lead the Pride defensively, with senior defender Alysse Ruszkowski adding three caused turnovers, two ground balls and two draw controls.

Kaitlin Leggio led Stony Brook with one goal and four assists, while Cook and Jenna Celano each added a pair of goals. Samantha Djaha had four ground balls and two caused turnovers for the Seawolves, with Mickey Cahill making nine saves.

Hofstra will have over a week off before opening Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play at home against James Madison on Friday, April 3 at 7:00 p.m.

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Hempstead, N.Y. (March 25, 2009) – Stony Brook University's women's lacrosse team jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but 10 unanswered goals from Hofstra to end the first half gave the Pride an 11-5 lead as they went on to beat the Seawolves, 15-7, at Shuart Stadium on Wednesday night.

Sandy Wasserbach had a game-high five goals for Hofstra, which had 18 draw controls to Stony Brook's 6. Senior Jenna Celano (Farmingdale, N.Y.) and sophomore Melissa Cook (Bay Shore, N.Y.) each had two goals and senior Kaitlin Leggio (Bay Shore, N.Y.) had a goal and four assists.

The Seawolves (3-8) jumped out to a 4-0 lead and led 5-1 after Cook's goal at 17:39 of the first half. Wasserbach's free-position goal at 17:01 started the rally for the Pride (6-3), who held Stony Brook scoreless until Leggio's goal eight minutes into the second half. Wasserbach and Liz Falco combined for five of the 10 goals.

Celano's goal with 15:27 left in the game got Stony Brook within 12-7 but Hofstra scored the game's final three goals to win, 15-7. Junior Mickey Cahill (Bay Shore, N.Y.) made nine saves in addition to picking up two ground balls. As a team, the Seawolves had 24 ground balls but were outshot, 33-24.

Stony Brook returns to America East action on Saturday afternoon when it travels to face New Hampshire. First draw against the Wildcats is slated for 1:00 pm.

2009-03-25