ROCHESTER, N.Y. (April 25, 2009) – Junior Alyssa Pigott (Jobstown, N.J.) scored five goals and senior Grace Sack (Cazenovia, N.Y.) was excellent in net as the 12th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team was able to erase a 5-2 halftime deficit en route to an 11-8 win over Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon in Rochester, N.Y. The win pushes the Ducks' record to 14-0 overall and 7-0 in the Empire 8. Stevens will now be the host and top seed of the 2009 Empire 8 Women's Lacrosse Championship next weekend.

After the 30 minutes of game time, RIT (12-4, 7-1 Empire 8) looked to be in control, holding Stevens to a season-low two first-half goals. The Tigers held a 5-2 halftime lead as the Ducks could not seem to solve Tigers goalkeeper Kelsey Evans.

That quickly changed in the second half. Sophomore Leah Wasserman (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) scored thanks to an assist from sophomore Pamela Loria (New Providence, N.J.), and Loria followed by netting a free-position shot 1:25 later to make it a 5-4 game. Wasserman and Loria hooked up again to tie the score 3:23 later and it was clear the second half would be a different story.

Allie Coppola (Orchard Park, Pa.) gave RIT the lead back with 20:11 left, but the Pigott scored the first of four second-half tallies to tie the game for the third time. Danielle Previ (Medford, N.J.) tallied to give the Tigers the lead again, but Stevens answered with three-straight goals to take a 9-7 lead with 15:29 to go. Sophomore Kate Cox (Aston, Pa.) scored the first goal in the run, and Loria was credited with her third assist of the game. Pigott scored the next two, the first after a feed from Wasserman and the second on a free-position attempt.

Junior Ashley Pezze (Guilderland, N.Y.) was able to pull RIT within one at 9-8, but sophomore midfielder Christine Smith (East Northport, N.Y.) and Pigott netted goals with 5:50 and 5:04 left to play for the final margin.

The Stevens defense was strong all day. Sack made 14 saves on the afternoon, her second high total this season. Junior Sam Zucker (Westfield, N.J.) caused a team-high three turnovers and Cox caused two in addition to picking up four ground balls. Senior Cassidy Callahan did a nice job RIT standout Eileen Hennigan (Liverpool, N.Y.) and picked up four ground balls.

Wasserman finished the contest with three points on two goals and assist as the sophomore also had two ground balls and two draw controls. Loria had four points on one goal and three assists. She also had two ground balls, three draw controls, and a caused turnover. Stevens also got strong performances from freshmen Jenna Scheibling (Long Valley, N.J.) and Ashley Carey (Mahopac, N.Y.).

Stevens ended the game with a 32-31 edge in shots, but the Tigers picked up 28 ground balls compared to 24 for the Ducks. RIT also won 12 of 21 draws, and each squad scored three free-position goals. RIT came into Saturday's contest with an eight-game winning streak.

Stevens will visit Alfred University on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. and should find out who it will take on in the semifinals of the Empire 8 Championship on Saturday afternoon.

2009-04-25