Brooklyn, N.Y. – Sophomore Annie Kalata (Nesconset, N.Y.) scored a school-record nine goals as the Long Island University women's lacrosse team held off Bryant, 22-20, on Sunday afternoon at LIU Field. Senior Allison Funk (Lumberton, N.J.) and the Blackbirds rallied from a halftime deficit to earn the win on Senior Day and improve to 4-12 on the season.

Kalata's fourth goal of the first half with 47 seconds left was part of a 5-0 run over both periods that spurred LIU to a strong second half. Sophomore Sara LaNoir (Queensbury, N.Y.) opened the scoring in the second half off a pass from junior Jillian Maricondo (Levittown, N.Y.) and junior Jenna Schauder (Jackson, N.J.) tied the contest at the 28:41 mark off a pass from freshman Claire Ranney (Jarrettsville, Md.). Ranney set up a score by junior Christie Wienckowski (Newton Square, Pa.) to give LIU the lead and Maricondo pushed the lead to 13-11 with 27:35 to play on an unassisted goal.

Bryant (3-12) charged back with three straight goals, including consecutive goals by Delia Glover to open the run and take a 14-13 lead. The Blackbirds, however, stormed back with a 5-0 run highlighted by consecutive goals from Kalata sandwiching a goal by Ranney to make it 18-14. A pair of Bryant scores book ended a tally by Schauder and made it 19-16 with 7:23 to play.

The Blackbirds increased the lead to 21-16 on consecutive goals by freshman Ashley Prizio (Brookfield, Conn.) and appeared to have the game in had with 4:48 to play. The Bulldogs mounted a furious comeback with a flurry of four unanswered goals, including a pair by Glover and a score by Lauren Sheridan with 1:01 to play to make it 21-20. LIU sealed the win with Kalata's ninth goal of the day with 33 seconds remaining.

Bryant jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Long Island answered with five straight goals. Ranney had three goals, while Kalata had a pair to give LIU an early 5-2 lead before Bryant came back with six straight goals. Junior Kristina Scheerer (West Chester, Pa.) snapped the run with a goal and Funk followed with a goal of her own to trim the deficit to 8-7 before Bryant tacked on two more. Kalata scored a pair of goals around a goal by Green for Bryant to make it 11-9 at halftime.

The teams combined for 84 shots and freshmen Amber Meek (Woodbridge, Va.) and Jaqueline Simonian (Farmindale, N.Y.) made eight and six saves, respectively, for LIU. Maricondo and LaNoir had a team-high four ground balls.

The Blackbirds close out the 2009 season with a 4:00 p.m. contest at Vermont on Tuesday, April 21.

2009-04-19